


Avatar: The Journey of Yuan - Book 1: Duty

by Tileshithead123



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bending (Avatar), Canon Compliant, Gen, Major Original Character(s), Next-Gen, Original Character-centric, Post-Canon, Post-Series, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-19 19:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 56,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3621627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tileshithead123/pseuds/Tileshithead123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>16 years have passed since Avatar Korra passed. The Earth States are in chaos, prompting United Republic intervention. Insurgencies have formed to combat these outside invaders. The gradual integration of spirits into everyday life has lead to the rise of a new religion centered around them, preaching a new controversial doctrine. All the while no new Avatar has been found.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Day in Urumqi

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, this is a story I've been working on for a little while now, and been publishing on reddit. I decided to take it here and try to reach a larger audience. I've got a few chapters written already, so I'll be publishing them here over the next few days/weeks. This is my firstfic, and I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out, but I'd love to hear what you guys think too.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young man named Yuan is hiding a horrible secret, as outside forces begin to circle around his village and home.

Yuan woke at the crack of dawn, as he did most mornings thanks to his neighbors Roostercrow. And just as he did every morning he considered crushing it under a boulder, a favor to the whole village, until the feeling passed and he got out of bed. He dressed himself in a earthy green shirt, with a loose brown robe over it, and light brown pants. Grabbing an apple out of a bowl in his kitchen as he made his way outside to set about doing his morning chores. After finishing his modest breakfast he swept the outside of the small house he and his mother lived in. Upon completing this task, he made his way to the small shack in the back of their yard, grabbing some hay to feed to the two mooseyaks inside. With both the animals fed, he went back to the kitchen to prepare a more substantial meal for himself and his mother. Half way through the prep he noticed that both their jars of water were empty, and with a sigh grabbed them and made his way towards the well down the path outside his house.

The village of Urumqi was a small one, with a population, just under 1,000 people. It was located in the central part of the Former Earth Kingdom on a large and arid plateau. It actually wasn't too far from the canyon known as The Great Divide, a fact that no one ever seemed to want to bring up. Despite this, the location did make it a prime spot for traders and caravans to stop at while moving their wares. This also sadly made it of target for outside interests. Yuan lived on the outskirts of the village, with his mother, the two mooseyaks, and a few acres of grazing land.

Having made his way to the well, Yuan bent to his task. The pump grew rustier and rustier with each passing year, but with enough force, water could be drawn. After five minutes of strain and frustration, Yuan finally finished filling his jars with water. When he reached down to grab them, he accidentally hit one in just the right way to cause it to tip over. Yuan instinctually reached out his hand and froze the water in mid-air. Realizing instantly what he had done, he looked around to be sure no one had saw him. Once he was thoroughly convinced he was alone, he moved his hand back, and drew the water back into the jar. This time using earthbending, he picked both clay jars up and turned back on the path.

" _I need to be more careful, I'm not always going to be alone,_ " he thought to himself as he made his way back.

With water in hand, he finished the small breakfast of fried bread, rice, and tea. And right as he finished his mother, Jeu, entered the kitchen. The woman of 40, looked at the meal and then at her son, and smiled warmly. Despite him now standing a whole head higher than her, their features were still very much the same. He had inherited her light brown eyes and dark brown hair, which she kept in a ponytail while he kept his in a small bun on the back of his head. Where his hard jaw came from was a mystery to her, however, not even his father had anything like it.

"Thank you for making breakfast. Did you remember to feed the Nuktuk and Ginger?" she asked earnestly.

"Yes, just like every morning. But if you keep asking every morning, I might just stop." He replied with grief.

Jeu quickly shot back, "If I even begin to see them lose weight and I'll make sure you're the one living in the shack, and their the ones in the house."

"Stop your motherly affection is smothering me," Yuan said with his most over exaggerated eye roll.

"I'd be afraid of using the word 'smother' if I were you. Anyways lets eat before the food gets colder than my apparently icy dead heart." And so they did, both digging into their breakfast with great gusto. They made short work of the meal, eating in relative silence. After the food was gone and they were sipping on their tea Jeu asked, "What is your plan for the day? More village guard business?"

"I'm meeting with Phen and Teng down at The Snoring Badgermole. We're going to talk there, probably something about getting the United Republic Peacekeepers to leave as soon as possible. After that we'll be attending the service down at the spirit shrine, it's supposed to be a big ceremony or something today. I should be home in time for dinner," he explained.

"That sounds good, but I don't like the idea of Phen talking about United Republic forces in a bar. That''s just begging for things to get out of hand."

"Don't worry, me and Teng will be sure to keep him in check. Besides, it's just talk so there should be minimal violence." he reassured.

"If you say so. I hope you have a good day." She said. They both got up from the table, and Yuan went to her side. There he kneeled down so she could kiss the top of his head.

"Hope you have a good day too. I'll be back for dinner." Yuan got up and went for the door, waving goodbye one last time before leaving.

***********

The walk down to the bar was peaceful at least. Upon entering the bar, Yuan had a bottle careen towards his head and narrowly miss, smashing instead on the wall next to him. The source of the bottle was either the violent,inebriated, and ironically titled Peacekeeper Bartok, or perhaps even more predictably, Yuan's good friend and coworker Phen. These two were in an all to frequent argument, with Bartok drinking and starting a commotion, and Phen trying to use it as an excuse to kick all United Republic Forces out of the village. Standing behind both were there equally exasperated bosses, Teng the head of the village guard, and Commander Ryu, the mustachioed leader of all Peacekeepers in the area. The two made small attempts to restrain their underlings, but it was clear neither was truly going to intervene until it came to blows. The owner of the establishment seemed to have vacated the premises, wanting no part in the following hysterics. Seeing all this Yuan took up a position behind Teng and decided to watch this round of arguing unfold.

"You are always coming into the village, drinking all the cactus juice you can get your hands on, and then starting fights and destroying local property! If you want to help keep the peace, then leaving would be a good start," Phen angrily lambasted.

"You would love if we left wouldn't you! Then you could harbor all of your terrorist friends, and let your village sink back into the mud where it belongs," shot back Bartok.

"Because the United Republic has always done such a great job of stopping terrorists and bringing stability! Just like they did at Omashu."

This was enough to set Bartok off. He clenched both his fists, and Yuan could see as tiny ridges rose out of the water in the sink behind the bar. He wasn't the only one to see this, as Ryu immediately placed a firm hand on his subordinates shoulder.

The commander stated in a firm voice, "Let's leave well enough alone, Bartok. Captain Teng, we apologize profusely for this interruption, and look forward to seeing you at the ceremony later today."

Teng nodded coldly and professionally at the two foreign soldiers. With that the Peacekeepers made their exit, while the village guards made their way into a back room. There was a table at the center of this small and private room, with three chairs positioned for the guards. On the table was three neatly arranged wanted posters. Each said dead or alive, and promised a healthy reward, two for 10,000 yuons, and one for 25,000. The two lower bounties were for the local terrorists Li Chen and Phu, members of the Rising Earth movement, whom Yuan had fortunately only had to meet once. The final one was for a more notorious figure, an international terrorist whom had been given the title The Iron Scorpion. Yuan didn't know anyone who had ever come into contact with him. They all took their seats around the table.

Teng was an older man in his mid-50's balding on top and with a good sized grey beard. Phen was younger then Teng, but still much older than Yuan, at 28 years old. He had a narrow face with short black hair and small fu-man chu moustache. These three were the only earthbenders within the village and, since Yuan had turned 14 and old enough to join, they were the sole members of the Urumqi Village Guard. Teng looked at both of them, before sighing and announcing, "These are the people I've been talking about for the past few days. They will … _sigh_ ... be staying in the village for the next few weeks, before moving to their next destination."

Both Phen and Yuan sat up at this. "Are you serious? I mean, I'm no fan of Li Chen or Phu, but at least we know them. The Iron Scorpion … have any of us even met him? Isn't every nation in the world trying to find him? Why on earth are we letting him even close to Urumqi!?" Phen was frantically asking questions, while Yuan just sat there in disbelief.

Teng began to make reassuring gestures with his hands. "We already have volunteers to house our 'guests' for their stay and I've received confirmation from his current host that the Iron Scorpion is not currently being followed, or at least no one knows where to look. What these men do is despicable, but it's a necessary evil if we ever want to be free from the the United Republic and it's allies, and we are compelled to assist them"

This time it was Yuan that spoke up, "But hiding them is the exact kind of action that keeps the Peacekeepers here!. If they catch us harboring these … 'guests' then The United Republic will just increase their presence, and we'll be taken prisoners! I understand why these men do what they do, but they've never asked for something this dangerous. Can't we refuse them, just this once?"

"No. Neutrality makes us the enemy of both sides, and refusing them will only infuriate The Rising Earth, and make us a possible target for future attacks. I don't like it, but it's already been arranged and it is happening." replied his captain.

"So they're threatening us and making us comply, so that we'll get weeks of Li Chen talking about how 'great' and 'righteous' they are? Really capturing the hearts of the people guys, bravo." Phen said while making a sarcastic applause.

"It's just the way things are. They'll be arriving after the service this afternoon, using the crowd exiting the shrine as cover. From there we'll take them to a small room in the back, and wait for night to escort them to the home they will be staying at. Yuan will serve as a lookout while we do this, while me and you, Phen, will be on the ground with them. If either of you have any problems with this plan, please speak up." Teng looked at both of them waiting for a response. Phen angrily grinded his teeth and glowered at the posters, while Yuan sat stone faced reviewing the information. After a moment had passed and no objections were raised, Teng concluded their meeting saying, "Ok then. Do your rounds and make sure all is well in the village. Meet me before the beginning of the ceremony at the shrine, so we can make sure everything is in order." And with this final command, the Urumqi Village Guard went their ways to ensure that justice was being served in their village.

**********

"All is well in the village I trust," said Teng as he saw Yuan approach him in the back of the Spiritual Shrine. It was the largest building in Urumqi by far, with a large glass dome for a roof and stain glass windows lining it's side. It was arranged in a circle with benches surrounding a raised altar at the center. Teng and Yuan were situated at the back end, nearest the entrance, while various citizens began to fill in for the service.

"Shin thought people were stealing his hen's, but it turned out he just can't count. It really helps me sleep at night knowing I'm making such a difference in people's lives," said an exhausted Yuan.

"Phen's rubbing off on you too much. Cynicism might not be lethal, but it will kill you on the inside."

Yuan shrugged at this suggestion."Where is the little ball of fury anyways?" he inquired.

"He hates ceremonies like this. Really anything related to spirits and the shrine, so I sent him to meet with our friends."

Yuan nodded at this. "I can't really blame him for that, it's boring. Two hours of droning about the purity of the spirit world and the sinfulness of the human world, with a dig at Avatar Korra every few minutes."

"It's not that bad. This shrine helps bring our community together and if it only costs two hours a week, then it's more than fair. Besides if anyone deserves hatred it is the former Avatar. She's the one that lead the charge when The United Republic sent its forces into Former Earth Kingdom, and helped install this era of imperialism. The world is better off without an Avatar, especially one like her. It wasn't enough that she stomped and disregarded our sovereignty, but her and that Sato woman also had to be deviants. Completely disgusting." Teng went on and on with this familiar tangent, about the evil of the Avatar and the wickedness of homosexuality. For his part, Yuan stood silently during his bosses tirade, careful not to let his face betray any actual emotion. Despite his feigned calm, he was racing between emotions of fear, anger, and self-loathing on the inside. Yuan soon noticed, much to his dread, that the candles in the shrine were beginning to flicker wildly, but luckily no one else seemed to notice this. It was a relief when Commander Ryu arrived with two subordinates, neither of whom was Bartok, in tow.

"It's good to see you Captain Teng," said the commander as he bowed slightly. "I must apologize for allowing things to get out of hand this morning."

"No, no, I didn't stop them either. I'm just glad nothing violent transpired," Teng replied courteously.

"As am I. We've received notification at our base camp that there has been an increase in insurgency in the surrounding areas. As such, we're keeping an alert status in our camps until we are given further notice. We just want to keep you informed in case something does occur."

"Thank you for the warning. We'll be sure to keep an eye out and inform you if anything suspicious is occurring." With that, both leaders bowed to each other, and the peacekeepers took their positions at the opposite side of the shrine. In a few more minutes the entire shrine had filled up, and the ceremony was ready to commence.

Out from a back room emerged an elderly man, wearing ornate green robes, carrying a bowl filled with brightly colored chalk. He made his way to the center of the shrine, and carefully placed the bowl on a table, next to a large and ancient looking book. From atop the altar, the man began to make a speech. The service advanced much the way Yuan had described, with sweeping language used to describe the majesty of spirits, and to condemn the wickedness of Avatar Korra. It wasn't until the end, where they began to deviate from routine, as the old man launched into a speech about accepting spirits into one's heart, and growing to be a member of the congregation. From here he signaled a young boy, about 10 years old, in the audience to come and join him on the altar. The boy was dressed in ceremonial robes similar to the preacher. When he reached the top he turned his back to the old man and knelt. The preacher took the bowl of chalk and began showering the boy in the bright dust. After this went on for half a minute, and the boy was began to cough uncontrollably, the old man helped him to his feet.

After the coughing fit died down the boy and preacher both looked to the glass ceiling and a light began to shine down on them. The light soon filled the entire shrine, bathing the parishioners, making them all squint to see what was happening. Soon the light began to fade and the spirit became visible. It was a large bright yellow bird-like being. There were large claws at the end of it's wings, and atop it's head were two enormous moose antlers. The spirit descended before the boy and waited for a moment slowly flapping it's wings in front of him. The preacher asked the child if he was ready and received a small, almost terrified nod in response. With that the spirit lunged forward and entered the boy's body. The child took a step back to regain his balance, and slowly opened his eyes revealing them to be glowing. From here the preacher gave a series of questions to the co-inhabited body, all of which were answered in the affirmative. From here one final blessing was given and the spirit arose from out the body, and then through the glass dome at the top of the shrine. The boy returned to his parents and the preacher made some final remarks before dismissing the congregation.

"This is our cue," said Teng, as he tapped Yuan's shoulder and signaled him to exit in the midst of the crowd. Soon a large mob of townsfolk formed outside of the shrine discussing both the days ceremony, and the random happenings of the week. Teng and Yuan both were searching frantically until they saw Phen with two hooded figures behind him. Yuan circled back to the entrance, and made sure that all Peacekeepers had exited the building. Seeing the coast was clear, he signaled to Teng and Phen. All five men met at the the entrance and quickly moved into a cramped back room at the opposite end of the shrine. Once inside their guests removed their hoods revealing the two Rising Earth members Li Chen and Phu.

"Where's the Scorpion?" asked Teng angrily.

"Change of plans." Li Chen responded, "He'll be joining us in a few days, but thats not even the big news. The big news is that Haiyan is looking to increase presence in the area, this village specifically." The mention of The Rising Earths leader and his new plan was enough to give a brief pause to the Village Guard, until Phen shattered the shocked silence.

"What!? Who gave that monster permission to use our village as his stomping ground? What gives him the right to come in and bring the fear and violence that always follow him, down upon us? If he comes anywhere near Urumqi, I'll crush him into a paste!"

Both their guests were clearly offended by Phen's threats against their leader. "Watch what you say! You should feel lucky to be part of this revolution. Haiyan is giving you all a chance to liberate your country, your land, your home from this foreign power, and you have the indecency to threaten him." Li Chen angrily shot back.

"Can it! Phen is right, we gave no permission to Haiyan or The Rising Earth to use our village to fight their war. We'll house you two, but when you leave you will inform your superiors that Urumqi is off limits to any Rising Earth activity!" Teng barked orders with a great sense of authority ringing in his voice.

"I hadn't realized you were all so ready to lick United Republic boots. Were your ancestors this kind and welcoming to the Fire Nation when they invaded, or is your hospitality a recent tradition?" berated Li Chen. "Like it or not our struggle is your struggle, and you will give aid, whether you're willing or not."

"And when United Republic Forces descend on us, and wipe out not only you, but our village as well, what then?" asked Teng.

"Now that is an interesting question."

All heads turned to see Commander Ryu standing in the doorway, backed by four additional soldiers. Most everyone stood in disbelief, except for Phu, who immediately kicked up a stone from the floor and sent it hurtling towards the commanders head. The commander deftly dodged the rock and countered with a fireball, which landed square in Phu's chest knocking him to the other side of the room.. Before anymore blows could be exchanged, Teng placed his hand on the back wall, and blew it apart, creating an exit for the five earthbenders to escape through.

"How in did they find us!? There was no one looking when we came in." Phen shouted angrily, as they fled.

"They must have seen us in the crowd, and wanted to ambush us in the shrine!" was the only explanation Yuan could think of. The group fled to the outer edge of the village, dodging all manner of fireballs, air blasts, and errant stones being flung their way,, before they turned to face their pursuers. The commander stood with two soldiers on either side of him.

"Surrender and turn yourselves in, or we will treat you all as enemy combatants." shouted Ryu with a commanding aura.

"You know we can't do that," huffed Teng.

"Very well." Ryu sent a huge burst of flames at the ragtag group of benders. Phen and Yuan moved in unison and created a massive earth wall between them and the flames. After the burst died out, Pu and Li Chen launched themselves atop the wall. Once there, they both bent low, with arms swinging to one side, where they slowly rose with a behemoth sized boulder behind them. Clearly using all their strength, the two swung forward and launched the boulder into the crowd of Peacekeepers. The United Republic Forces scattered to various sides, with none hit. Bartok, who had apparently joined the soldiers after the ceremony , drew water out of a gourd hanging off his belt. He swung it back in one large stream, before whipping it forward into Li Chen's abdomen, knocking him into Phu. They both fell off the wall, right below an airbending Peacekeeper who had just launched himself into the air. While both insurgents were still in the air, the airbender sent a blisteringly fast spike of air into them, piledriving them into the ground, and knocking them out. Right as they landed, an earthbending soldier punched straight thru Phen and Yuan's wall causing it to crumble, leaving nothing between the three Village Guards, and the five soldiers.

Teng and Phen immediately sprung to action, sending a flurry of stones at their enemies. The Peacekeepers responded with their own overwhelming volley of the elements. Teng and Phen dodged and returned fire as best they could, while Yuan mostly dodged, and defended himself with rock walls. The battle lasted two minutes with the United Republic forces completely overwhelming the Village Guard, knocking Phen and Teng to the ground, leaving only an exhausted Yuan left standing. "Please … huff … stop. We can just … pant … walk away from this. We'll let you take those two, but please just leave us," he pleaded.

"You know we can't just let that happen," coldly stated Bartok, as he hit Yuan to his back with a chunk of ice. Phen reacted to this by sitting up slightly and sending a large spike of earth at Bartok's head, who only narrowly dodged it. "Oh you'll pay for that." Bartok brought down his water whip straight onto Phen's chest, knocking the air out of him. He then began to walk forward and slowly froze his water into a large spike, which he placed right above Phen's neck. Bartok placed his boot on Phen's chest, as if to gloat over his opponent before finishing him.

"Wait, Bartok, stop!" shouted Ryu, but his orders fell on deaf ears. With a sadistic grin, the water bender slowly raised his fist, and the ice spear. Right as he was about to bring it down, Yuan opened his eyes.

" **NO!** "

Before he could even turn to see, Bartok was blindsided by a fireball to the side of his head, knocking him to to the side several meters. All in shock, the remaining Peacekeepers turned to see Yuan standing up, eyes glowing. Yuan let loose a powerful air punch, which curved and sent the recovering Bartok flying into his comrades. With all his enemies on one side, Yuan let loose a huge breath of fire out of his mouth, leaving a wall of flames separating him from them. Soon a cyclon picked up around his legs and he slowly ascended into the air, with rings of earth, water, and fire spinning around him.

"Leave now, and you leave with your lives!" he bellowed at them.

They needed no convincing, as Ryu immediately ordered a retreat back to their base camp. As they retreated back, Yuan noticed for the first time, that almost the entire village had gathered at a distance to see the fight. This immediately snapped him back to reality, as he exited the avatar state and fell back to earth. He looked up and saw both Phen and Teng staring in disbelief. All three men laid there for a moment, all unsure quite how to react.

"Yuan…" Teng started, but before he could finish his thought, Yuan turned and began to run as fast as he could back home, hot tears streaming down his face.

**********

He came back to any empty house, where he made a beeline for his room. He grabbed two large bags from out of the corner, and began stuffing them with a spare set of clothes. He also grabbed some apples from the kitchen and all his spare money from a box he kept in a closet. It was in this frenzy that he failed to notice his mother enter their home. She silently slipt into the room behind him. "I saw everything," she said, startling her still crying son who turned to see her. "I went down to the shrine to grab you for dinner, and, and…"

"Mom, you know I couldn't tell anyone. I didn't even want to believe it was happening to me," he desperately pleaded with her. She stepped forward a placed him in a large reassuring hug.

"I understand Yuan. I also understand why you're packing," she said, her voice slowly growing more and more choked up. "You can take the neighbors ostrichhorse. I'll give them Nuktuk or Ginger as payment later. We need to get you out of here." He looked at her in shock, but all she did was turn and move to the kitchen, where she grabbed a map of the area from inside a drawer. She also wrapped the dinner he would have ate in a cloth and handed it to him. They both silently moved to the neighbors farm, where they found the ostrichhorse inside the farmhouse. Yuan saddled it in silence while his mother looked on. Once he had completed this task, and tied his sacks around the steed, he turned to see his mother had begun crying, just as he had. He walked over and bent low, where she kissed the top of his head, as she had just this morning.

"I love you mom. I'll think of something, and when I do, I'll comeback for you," he said in between sobs.

"I know you will. I love you too," she said trying to put on her best smile. He turned and mounted the ostrichhorse and walked towards the entrance of the barn with his mother. They both gave one final look and wave, before Yuan kicked the sides of his steed, and sped off into the horizon. Jeu stood there at the door, until her son had fully faded from view, when she finally broke down and began to sob uncontrollably.

**Coming Soon: Chapter 2 - The City**


	2. The City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now on the run, Yuan decides on a place to lie low.

This would have been Yuan's first time waking up after mid-day, in months. He slowly roused himself from the hard canyon floor where he'd spent the night, and apparently morning. He had made his bed in a small crevice, just below the mountains, he had once been able to see from the outskirts of his village. He had rode for most of the night, until exhaustion had overtaken his adrenaline, and he decided to make camp. He hitched the ostrichhorse to a small tree, laid a bed for himself, ate the dinner his mother had made for him, before falling into a hugely needed sleep.

As he woke this day, he checked to make sure the horse was still tied down, before reaching into one of his bags and grabbing two apples for the both of them to have for breakfast. After eating he went to a nearby stream to fill up his water pouch. When he looked down into the water he saw his reflection looking back at him. He immediately realized he looked exactly as he had yesterday, and as such, would be instantly recognizable. After filling his pouch, he went back to his small basecamp and rummaged around in his bags, until he found a small knife he had remembered to bring. He cut off the bun on his head, letting his hair fall every which way. He spent the next several minutes cutting it short, so it wouldn't get into his eyes. The result was a messy head of hair, with a varying number of lengths. " _I'll have to find a hat or cloak or something to hide my face,_ " he solemnly thought to himself.

With his appearance and stomach taken care of, he opened the map his mother had given him, and set about plotting his next course of action. He slowly dragged his fingers over the various towns, cities, and regions of the Former Earth Kingdom, trying to remember names he might have heard before. Yuan had only left Urumqi and it's general area once, with Teng to visit the once great city of Omashu. Despite having a functioning government for most of it's history, Kuvira's reunification and the subsequent dissolution of the Earth Empire had plunged the city into chaos. United Republic Forces underneath Avatar Korra had moved into the city trying to restore peace. While they did temporarily restore peace, they also took away much of the cities autonomy, which infuriated most citizens, especially after they had just gained sovereignty from the Earth Empire. They soon began to organize and formed a group which would later be known as The Rising Earth. The Peacekeepers took substantial losses and eventually abandoned the city. Yuan and Teng had visited two years ago, hoping to establish contact with an influential cabbage merchant, in the hopes he would bring his business to Urumqi. When they arrived however, they found no cabbage merchant, only a broken city with corrupt officials and frequent and seemingly senseless terror attacks.

Yuan shuddered as he remembered the sad and hopeless situation he had witnessed. " _I definitely can't go there,_ " he thought to himself. This made matters difficult as it was the only name he recognized besides Republic City and Ba Sing Se, both of which were also off limits. Republic City offered nothing but possible imprisonment, and Ba Sing Se was the main city of the Spiritual Church, an organization practically defined by it's anit-Avatar stance. Yuan hadn't even had an idea, and he was already out of options. However just when all seemed lost, he noticed a small name at the top of the map that he thought he recognized. Zaofu.

" _That's it!_ " he thought with glee, " _It's perfect, close riding distance, zero United Republic interference, the Church is weak there, and the leaders are as pro-avatar as they come. I think some of the older ones might even had been friends with Avatar Korra._ " Yuan soon put together a plan of action. He didn't know how ostrichhorse friendly the city was, so he decided to stop in a town outside the city to sell the bird, and use the money to get a train ticket into the city, from there he could try and find a way to contact the cities leaders. With his mind set, he quickly packed his belongings, and saddled the ostrichhorse. After one more sip of water for him and the bird, he mounted his steed and spedoff towards Zaofu.

**********

It took him two days before he finally arrived in the town of Yi. He made as few stops as possible on this journey, with only occasional breaks for food, water, and one 6 hour stop for sleep. Outside of this the journey was entirely uneventful. Yuan saw neither hide nor hair of another human being, and even very little signs of wildlife. He did take some time to appreciate the view he had of the mountains, as this was only his second time outside the village. Despite his awe at their size, he refused to slow down to fully take them in. And once he finally saw the outline of the village, he felt rewarded for this decision. He felt even better when he saw the railroad tracks on the other side of the village.

Upon finally reaching the outside gates of the city, he asked passersby if they knew where he could find a farm or ranch. After being pointed in the right direction, Yuan rode his ostrichhorse to Pow's Ranch, a large settlement, about 10 minutes outside the city. There he looked and saw Pow himself directing two farm hands as they were trying to drive a herd of mooseyaks to the opposite end of an enclosed grazing area. Yuan dismounted and lead the ostrichhorse to Pow, who was standing just outside the fence surrounding the mooseyaks.

"Hi there," greeted Yuan.

"You actually have to lead them, you stupid … oh, sorry about that, I didn't hear you. Hi, I'm Pow, the owner of this ranch," answered the middle aged proprietor.

"Just who I'm looking for. I was hoping to sell this ostrichhorse, and was told that you might be able to give me a fair price," Yuan proposed.

Pow inspected the steed thoroughly, checking it's coat, beak, talons, and every other square inch of the animal. After about five minutes of looking, Pow turned back to Yuan with a smile, "This is a fine beast you have here. Young, healthy, and looks like she would make a great mate for some of my stallions. I'll give you 2,000 yuon's for this bird."

"That sounds perfect," said Yuan, happy to get the money.

Pow went into a nearby home and grabbed the money. When he came back, him and Yuan exchanged the cash and the reins. Yuan turned, about to make his way back to the village when Pow asked, "One final question, you got a name for this brid?"

"Oh," despite having spent the past two days working the creature, Yuan had failed to give it a proper name. "Um … Jeu." he answered after a beat.

"Lovely name," Pow said.

"Yeah, it is," Yuan turned again and began his walk back to the village.

**********

Being on a train was both an exhilarating and terrifying new experience for Yuan. On the one hand, he had never seen such an impressive and modern machine, and even the coach seating that Yuan found himself occupying, was exceptionally comfortable. On the flipside, Yuan had never gone this fast in his entire life, and every time they went around a curve or bend, he said a small prayer underneath his breath, that they wouldn't fly off and splatter. He eventually got used to it, which helped the 8 hour trip pass faster. This experience was only a taste test, with the real awe coming when Yuan eventually saw Zaofu.

He looked out the window and saw the massive petals of the city beginning to close, as dusk slowly overtook the valley it was seated in. Before the closed completely, Yuan caught glimpses of massive skyscrapers, that completely outshone anything he had seen in the dilapidated Omashu. He gulped slightly not sure if he would be ready for the actual city. The train soon entered a tunnel, where it traveled for 5 minutes before entering a massive opening that was Beifong Central Station.

After making his way through the security checkpoints, Yuan and the rest of the passengers were ushered up a staircase, where they exited into the main square of one of Zaofu's many domes. Yuan was completely awestruck, craning his head upwards and gawking at all of the sights. The lights, the towers, the arches, the oddly banana-like sculpture, this city was something Yuan might have dreamed of, if he had any inkling that something like this might have existed. Eventually his gawking got the better of him, as he ran into a passing by citizen.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" yelled the annoyed woman, as she dusted herself off.

"Sorry," Yuan apologized. "Actually, I'm new to the city, would you happen to know where I could find Yin Beifong?" he asked, as if he had been rehearsing the question over and over in his head.

The woman gave him an odd look, as if Yuan had suddenly sprouted a third head. "Umm … yeah, either in the capitol dome, or watching one of those dumb ballet performance at the theatre."

"Thanks," Yuan said. She gave him one final weird look before continuing on her way. Yuan looked at the map and brochure he had grabbed at the station, and found both where the theatre was, and that they would be unveiling a new performance tonight. Wasting no time, he sprinted towards the theatre, making it to the ticket booth 15 minutes before the show began. He spent almost the entirety of his remaining cash on a general admission ticket, before making his way to his seat on the inside.

He found his seat with no problems, sat down, and began to survey the theatre. It was shaped like an elongated oval, with a huge swath of general admission seats surrounding the center stage, which was about 10 feet below the final row of seats. A small wall separated the stage from the audience. Above general admissions were two sets of balcony seats on either side of the arena, and on one of the far ends there was a series of box seats. " _Thats where I'll probably find Beifong,_ " Yuan thought to himself. Before he could get up, however the lights began to dim, and everyone else in the audience made their way to their seats. Figuring he could wait until the intermission, Yuan took his seat, and decided he might try to enjoy the spectacle.

Soon music began to play, and from the roof of the theatre, several dancers lowered themselves on metal cables. Once they reached the ground, each of the eight dancers grabbed a triangular sheet of metal and began to spin it around. After a second they stopped, and were no longer holding triangles, but squares. They repeated this process, getting pentagons, hexagons, octagons, and eventually perfect circles. Yuan was initially mesmerized by the performance, having never seen metalbending before. However after a few minutes of the act, he quickly grew bored and began to wonder, if they would actually do anything exciting with this amazing ability. And by his standards, they did nothing of note for another full hour. Intermission came as such a great relief, that Yuan almost forgot why he had originally come.

It did strike him after a minute, as he walked back into the lobby area, and he immediately changed course to the back end of the theatre. There he found two guards standing in front of the staircase. Thinking on his feet, Yuan reached into his pocket and grabbed the remaining 200 yuons he had and scattered them all over the floor. Soon a mob formed, each trying to grab the money for themselves. As things got progressively more aggressive, both guards left their post to try and calm the mass. Yuan quietly as he could bolted up the stairs, and found himself in a back hallway, with just himself and an old man. The man turned to him, squinted a little bit, before asking in a raspy voice, "Hey, wait a minute, are you supposed to be up here?"

"Oh, well I …. uh …." Yuan began.

"Oh I know what you're doing up here," the old man accused. Yuan slid his foot forward, preparing for a fight with this seemingly geriatric man he just encountered, until the man finished, "You must be a huge fan of the Nuktuk movers!"

"Wait, what? I mean, yes I'm a huge fan!" Yuan said, deciding to play along.

"Well, color me impressed. It's not often I get to see fans anymore, especially one under the age of 50!" He pulled out a small photo and pen from underneath the suitcoat he was wearing, and quickly scrawled an autograph on the photo before handing it over. Yuan studied the photo, of a shirtless young man, whom he recognized as Nuktuk of the South from the old movers, as he high-fived a poorly staged polarbeardog and fire ferret, with the name Bolin sloppily scrawled underneath it. "So just how did you end up seeing my old movers?"

"Actually my mom was a huge fan, and took me to see showings at my townhall. She's been a superfan of them ever since she was a girl. She evened named our mooseyaks Nuktuk and Ginger." explained Yuan, to Bolin's complete delight.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man, that is so exciting to hear! Is your mother here? I would love to meet her," he began to exclaim.

Yuan's expression darkened a little bit, but he tried to force a smile as much as possible. "She actually couldn't come tonight, but she wanted me to try and get an autograph."

"Awww, that's a shame. Tell you what, you wanna watch the rest of this ballet from the best seats in the house. I'm bored to death up there, and would love to spend some time with one of my adoring fans."

"Umm, sure. That sounds great." Yuan figured he'd have a better chance of catching Beifong after the show, anyways. Despite his age, Bolin pumped his arms in excitement and motioned for Yuan to follow him through the door behind them. They entered into the small box where three other people were sitting, a woman about the same age as Bolin wearing ornate red and yellow robes with a blue arrow tattoo sneaking out underneath her white bangs, a middle aged woman wearing robes similar to those he had seen adorning all Zaofu citizens, and finally a younger boy, about the same age as Yuan, with a messy head of black hair wearing a tight yellow and red suit, with a loose red robe over it.

"Hey I just met another adoring fan, his name is …" Bolin started and soon trailed off, slowly realizing he didn't even know this stranger's name.

"Yuan."

"Right, right, Yuan. Well Yuan, I'd like to introduce to my family. This gorgeous little lady on the left is my wife Opal," the older lady smiled and gave a small wave. "Next up we have my daughter and president Yin," the middle aged woman gave a cold look over, obviously tired from a life time of her fathers theatrics. "Last, but not least we have my grandson and up and coming air acolyte Kunchen," the boy gave an awkward smile trying to be polite.

Yuan gave a quick bewildered look, but quickly shrugged off his amazing luck. He waved politely, "It's nice to meet all of you. It's an especial honor to meet you, President Beifong." He gave a small bow.

The president rolled her eyes at this, and turned to address her father, "Are you seriously harassing random strangers in the hallway about your old films? You can't just enjoy one performance without doing something disruptive?" Yuan took note, and figured it would probably be easier talking to Bolin when the time came.

"Two things: One, Yuan came to see me in the hallway, so I'm not harassing anyone. And second, you hate these ballet's just as much as I do," Bolin shot back, with a mix of indignation, and his strangely omnipresent good humor.

"Well at least I can quietly sit through one of these waste of times without making a big deal about it," replied Yin, keeping her tone even, yet irritated.

"Will both of you please stop fighting when we have guests!" everyone turned their heads to see Opal, barking these orders. "We can't take the two of you anywhere without a fight. I'm sorry for my husband and daughter, Yuan, please have a seat, I think there's an open one next to Kunchen." With the box suddenly silent, Yuan took his seat next to the young airbender. As he sat, the lights dimmed and the performance began anew.

A few minutes into the second act Kunchen whispered to Yuan out of the corner of his mouth, "So have you actually seen the Nuktuk films, or were you just trying to be polite to my grandpa?"

"Actually yeah. They had a showing of them at my townhall when I was a kid," Yuan replied.

"So wait there isn't a mover theatre near you? Where are you from?" Kunchen asked as politely as he could.

"Urumqi," Yuan said, but only got a puzzled look in response. "We're pretty small."

"Oh ok, I haven't been around the Former Earth Kingdom, but I've really wanted to travel and see …"

"Quiet during the performance," Opal scolded the two of them. Both muttered apologies under their breaths, and shifted their focus back to the performance. The second act went on for another hour, with only Opal paying any real attention. Soon enough, however, the dancers were giving their final bows, the audience their applause. After this the lights turned on all around the theatre, and people began to get up and leave.

"Well it was lovely meeting you Yuan, but we should be getting back to our home," Opal gave a small bow and tapped on Bolin's shoulder to signal him towards the exit.

The family all began making their way towards the exit when Yuan panicked and quickly interjected, "Umm actually there was a second reason why I tried sneaking into your section. Well actually it's the only reason, but I …" At this point everyone was giving him a puzzled looked, so he decided to get on with it. "Well I guess it would be easier to just show you." He reached into his pocket he pulled out a pebble, and using his earthbending, he began to levitate it above his palm. Next he extended his other hand forward, and with a concentrated effort formed a small fireball at the center of his palm.

The Beifong family stood shocked and silent for a moment, before Bolin began to stomp his feet on the ground in excitement and repeat the phrase "Oh man," over and over and over. Taking initiative Yin slapped her hand on her fathers mouth and turned to face Yuan with a grim look on her face, "We'll all need to talk in a more private setting."

**********

The family and Yuan all sat in a stately office, inside of the capital dome. Before they had begun talking, they had sent Yuan off to a different corner of the dome to be bathed and groomed, after the his multi-day journey. His face was cleaned, his hair was cut and evened to a neat short buzzcut, and he was given a new set of clothes. Now he wore a loose but comfortable green button-up shirt, with a brown pants and boots, and a brown short-sleeved jacket, that he left unbuttoned and loose on him. After inspecting himself in the mirror and approving of his new look, he followed the directions of the staff to the office they now sat in.

"So you're the Avatar," Yin began. Bolin let out an excited squeal, but was quickly silenced by his daughters glare. "How and why have you come to Zaofu?" Yuan briefly explained his fateful last day in Urumqi, leaving out the portions about terrorists. The family's cold curious looks quickly warmed and turned sympathetic towards him.

"I'm sorry you had to go through an experience like that," said Opal. "So you came here, because you thought we would be the only place that would accept you?" Yuan gave a solemn nod. "You poor thing. We would gladly extend the hospitality of Zaofu towards you."

"We would, but I don't think we're able to do so," interrupted Yin. "We have a lot of refugees from the Former Earth Kingdom, none of whom would be keen on us harboring the Avatar. Also if the United Republic found out it could cause an international catastrophe!"

Bolin didn't care for this notion. "You can't honestly be suggesting that we just kick him back out! Where else would he go?"

"Dad, I know you want to do right by Korra, but you know the risks we would be taking harboring the Avatar. It's not just dangerous for us, but for him and my citizens, and as their president it's my duty to do right by them." The harshness Yuan had come to expect from her voice, had been replaced with a sense of defeat and a grim resolution on her duty to her citizenry.

"Then where would he go?" Bolin questioned, half rhetorical, half genuine.

"I don't know. I'll think about it, but until then we'll have to keep him hidden. I'm going to adjourn to my bed chambers to sleep on the issue. Make sure he interacts with as few people as possible." She gave the orders like they were her underlings, not her close family. She made a quick exit, with a noticeably loud door slam behind her.

" _Sigh_ … I'm sorry for the way she said it Yuan, but my daughter is right, keeping you would put Zaofu in an awkward position." Opal apologized.

"It's no excuse. Korra was our best friend, we can't just turn her successor away like this," Bolin said with an anger at no one in particular.

"So you two were close friends with Avatar Korra?" Yuan inquired.

"Oh yeah, me and Korra were best friends since we were your age. We were always helping her fight bad guys or restore spiritual balance or whatever she was doing. We even helped after it came out as public that she and Asami…" Bolin trailed off. "I'm sorry I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, do you have strong feelings about Korra and her …"

"Not really. I never saw what the big deal about it was, except that the church hated it," Yuan responded.

"That's how we all felt! When they told us and a few other friends about it, everyone was happy for them, even my brother who dated both of them! But during all the troubles with the New Earth States, Korra lost a lot of popularity and started getting flak from a lot of groups. Then someone took some photos of her and Asami on a date, the church latched on to it, and suddenly the whole world came down on them."

"That's awful to hear," said Yuan quietly, never having put much thought into the subject.

"Korra took it ok, she was used to the criticism, but Asami … she'd already lost so much before it, and now this. She was even forced to merge and give up control of Future Industries to Varrick Industries, to stop the company from failing." Bolin continued to rant about all the injustices visited upon his close friends.

"We tried to help as much as we could," Opal began, "They were always welcome in Zaofu. They couldn't go to much of the Former Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, or even the poles, where Korra's family were leaders, because of the influence the church held. They split their time between here, Republic City, and the Air Temples. They had to deal with the hate for the rest of their lives. Two months before you were born, Asami finally got sick and passed, and Korra followed soon after. It's a complete injustice what happened to those two, and we'll make sure nothing like that happens to you."

Yuan sat there in silence slowly soaking in all the terrible ordeals his predecessor had to go through. He'd only ever heard Teng's ravings or the preachers sermons, and had never stopped to think about the actual person they were attacking. The thought sat like a lump in the pit of his stomach. After a moment of silence Bolin perked up with a sudden flash in his eyes, "I know! There's a White Lotus Temple on the other side of the continent that Korra had set up during one of her peace missions! We can send you there! They should have plenty of resources, plus there's no one better equipped to train you in the elements. And no one can get mad for them harboring you, because it's literally their job."

Everyone sat in silence, mulling over the plan, until finally Opal spoke. "It sounds like our best bet. How would we get him there though?"

"I could take him." Everyone turned and saw Kunchen had spoken up for the first time during the entire meeting. "I'm good at driving the jeep, and I should be traveling more anyway, if I want to be a proper air nomad"

Bolin looked overjoyed at the prospect of his grandson going on an adventure with the Avatar, but Opal had a doubtful look, "Kunchen, you've proven that you can be responsible, but this is a big undertaking. Are you sure you're ready?"

"Definitely. I can plot out our course and start packing tonight, I'll clear it with my mom in the morning." Yuan, Opal, and Bolin all cast doubtful looks, at that prospect.

**********

And all cast shocked looks at breakfast the next morning when she immediately agreed with the plan. "You're brothers already at the Air Temple, so it'll be nice having you both out of my hair for a little while. Plus it's not like you haven't been on big journey's before. I'll set you up with a jeep, and you two should be able to leave by this afternoon." Everyone's shocked expressions were matched, by a huge dorky grin on Kunchen's face.

So pack they did, and by the late afternoon all five were standing outside one of Zaofu's gates, with a jeep loaded with some clothes and food ready to go. Kunchen gave hugs to all of his relatives, as they got ready to leave.

"Good luck to the two of you, I know you'll both make me proud." said Bolin. "And radio us when you reach the Temple, you know how Opal worries."

Kunchen and Yuan each gave a determined nod to him, waved their last goodbyes, before getting in the car. Kunchen started the engine, and before they knew it they were off, leaving on a road through a mountain pass behind the city. As they cleared a large ridge, Yuan took one last look at the marvelous city, before it sank below the hills and mountains.

**Coming Soon: Chapter 3 - The Shrine**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I'd appreciate any and all feedback, it really helps with the writing process.


	3. The Shrine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuan and Kunchen 'bond' while spending time in an innocent seeming town, with a particularly sinister resident.

"So, going on the run like this must have been pretty rough." This was the thought Kunchen used to break the almost day long silence the two benders had shared on the road. They'd driven well into the night after departing Zaofu, stopping close to midnight to sleep. They woke early in the morning, ate some of the packed food, and got back on their way. During this time, the two had shared few words. In fact, Kunchen had been the only one really saying anything, Yuan had mostly been communicating in affirmative or negative grunts. Finally by late morning, the silence had completely worn through Kunchen, and he decided to take this stab at friendly conversation.

"Yeah," replied Yuan, clearly not wanting to participate. During his time in Zaofu and on the road, he'd begun to get tired of Kunchen and all of his questions. His situation had put him in a bad enough mood as is, and this wasn't helping.

"Well, I mean I couldn't imagine being in your situation. When did you first figure out you were, you know, the Avatar?" Kunchen wasn't ready to give up that easy.

"I dunno, I was pretty young." If Kunchen wouldn't give any ground then Yuan wouldn't either.

"It had to have been stressful, hiding it for so long." Still trying.

"Wasn't as hard as you might think, people weren't really looking for it."

"Still though, it must have been a little scary. You obviously know how some types of people might react." Absolutely relentless.

"Some types?" Yuan's anger was switching from the conversations existence, to the content of the conversation.

"You know, people who are more religious, or the anti- Avatar crowd, or another one of those types of groups that blindly reacts with hate to something, they might not fully understand."

"You mean people that lived outside of Zaofu, and actually had to deal with the chaos that happened when the Earth Empire split?"

"I didn't mean it like that," Kunchen was on the defensive now. "I just meant, you know … certain people … not in like a mean-spirited way, just a …"

"I know what you meant." Yuan knew the poor airbender probably didn't mean anything bad or harmful, but it was definitely coming out that way.

"I'm sorry," Kunchen apologized.

"..."

"I just figured you know if we're going to be traveling together …"

Yuan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

**********

It was a later in the afternoon when the two reached a small, empty looking town. They'd both taken notice of the low gas light flashing, and had found this town on the map only slightly out of their way. Kunchen had tried to use this as a conversation starter, but Yuan was quick to shut it down. They pulled into gas station, but when they went to try and pay, they found a locked door and closed sign.

"Why're they closed this early? It's still a few hours til dusk!" Kunchen was clearly frustrated by this inconvenience, and to be honest Yuan shared the feeling. Yuan cupped his chin and tried to think of why it would be like this, when suddenly it hit him.

"The owners probably at the local shrine," Kunchen gave a puzzled look, but Yuan was busy peering inside the shop looking at the clock. "Yeah the service should be starting in about a half an hour or so."

"So we have to wait until it gets out?" questioned Kunchen, slightly glad to be having a non-hostile conversation.

"Probably, but judging by how things looked when we drove in everywhere else in town is probably closed too. Wanna just head to the service and wait it out there?" As much as Yuan loathed the church, it's not like they had anything better to do, and it would force Kunchen to be quiet for an hour.

"That sounds great! I've never actually been to a Spiritual Shrine!"

"Oh, you are in for a treat." And with that the two walked to the Shrine a few blocks away, where sure enough, they saw most of the towns citizens filing in. The two made their way through the mob's of people talking about the weeks happenings, and how excited they were for this that and the other. Eventually the pair found an open space in the mid-section of the pews. After a few more minutes, everyone had found their way to a seat and the preacher of this town had entered from the back and taken his place at the center of his congregation. He gave a quick opening prayer to all spirits finishing with the phrase "Praise be."

"Praise be," repeated everyone, with the exception of Kunchen.

"Praise be," he awkwardly tried to catch up, eliciting an eye roll from Yuan.

The preacher continued with a series of more prayers, Yuan soon remembering just how boring these services were, and Kunchen was slowly catching on. Soon the preacher made a sweeping gesture and everyone, again with the exception of Kunchen, went into a kneeling position. Kunchen looked around dumbly as everyone did this until Yuan whispered, "Kneel, ya idiot!" out of the corner of his mouth. Once everyone was in the proper position the preacher began on his sermon, the topic being the sadly all too frequent sinfulness of the Avatar.

"We've been blessed these past 16 years to have a world rid of the Avatar. For so many centuries we were fooled into believing that they would bring us peace and connection to the spirits. When Avatar Korra connected the two worlds, she unknowingly brought her own downfall, showing the world that not only was she an unnecessary part of a bygone era, but soon after she revealed her own sinful ways, both in her public and private lives. 16 years after she found peace, we are still dealing with the damage she left this world in, and worse we live in fear that her successor may soon make their presence known. I come before you today to help put your minds at ease. We are all blessed by the spirit's presence and know the righteous path we must walk, avoiding this false shepard. It is with this blessing and faith that we will not be lead astray by them, not be be seduced by their false promises, and not fall to their dark and sinful powers!"

Yuan grew stiffer and stiffer as the speech continued, eventually clasping his hands together so tightly, a vein began to bulge on his bicep. Kunchen took notice and quietly tried to signal that they might want to leave with a quick head motion towards the door, but Yuan brushed it off, and took a deep breath to calm himself. He'd suffered through these before, and he wasn't going to wimp out now.

**********

The service did come to an end, eventually. Yuan and Kunchen found themselves amongst the throngs of townsfolk, as they continued their conversations from before, or started new ones about the quality of the sermon. Kunchen was finding the whole experience fascinating, especially after he got a hang of the position changes and repetitions. He'd never experienced anything like this before in Zaofu or the Air Temples and and was completely taken by it. These were the types of experiences he'd always wanted to try, and it felt great getting to be participating in a culture he'd never knew much about.

"I'll go congratulate the preacher on the sermon," said Yuan flatly, interrupting Kunchen's train of thought.

"Wait are you sure that's a good idea, I mean …" Kunchen began.

"It's expected of us. It'd actually look odd if we didn't. I've done it before, so just stay here, it should only take a few minutes," Yuan cut him off. He then turned towards the preacher and began walking, leaving a dejected and frustrated feeling Kunchen behind. The airbender stood awkwardly muttering insults and curses under his breath, waiting for his 'friend' to return, when he was approached by a small girl, who looked about 8 years old.

"Hi my name is Li. Are you an airbender, 'cause you have the same clothes that airbenders have?" She promptly inquired, in the most adorable manner possible.

"Oh, um actually yeah. My name is Kunchen," he replied wearing his first genuine smile of the day.

"That's so cool. I don't get to see any other benders, and it's so boring. Can you please show me? Pretty please?" she asked full of bouncing joy.

"Sure I don't see why not," he said, taking to small coins from out his pocket. He placed them between his two palms, before bringing his hands apart, while using air to spin them in circle, his best imitation of Master Meelo's favorite trick. Li clapped and giggled at both the trick, and the goofy smile on Kunchen's face. After a little bit Kunchen stopped a put the coins back in his pocket. "Wait a minute, you said you don't get to see other benders. Does that mean you're a bender?"

"Uh-huh," she said with a nod of her head, before stamping on the earth and sending a small stone flying up, which she caught in the air. "I can show you a bunch of really cool tricks. There's a field behind the shrine we can use!"

Kunchen thought for a moment before asking, "Are your parents ok with this?"

Li gave a sigh, "We can go ask them I guess, but I'm still going to show you my cool tricks."

As the two went to find Li's parents, Yuan had finally reached the front of the preachers congratulations line. Yuan had noted most of the praise was forced, as it usually was with these kinds of things, but the preacher was far more spirited than any Yuan had met before. He met each insincere thanks with a small speech about piety or spirits or whatever, Yuan stopped paying attention. Soon enough it was his turn to speak.

"That was a very moving sermon, father. Me and my friend were really glad to be here for it," Yuan said, though his voice strained for sincerity.

The preacher didn't seem to mind at all. "It was my pleasure. I don't recognize your faces, are you new to town?" His voice was soft and cloying in person, sending a small shiver down Yuan's spine.

"No, we're just passing through. Just glad we could attend a service during our travels." He hoped his practice with Kunchen earlier had made him effective at ending conversations.

"Ah travelers on the open road." Apparently his practice had been for not. "I noticed your friend wears an air nomads garments. Are you also a bender?"

"Yes, I'm an earthbender, we're traveling to see his family on the other side of the Earth States," They'd decided on this lie before they had left Zaofu, and honestly Yuan did get some enjoyment of dropping it in casual conversation, as one did when hiding a secret.

"This is excellent to hear. The world needs more benders who walk in the light of the spirits," the preacher praised.

"We try our best," Yuan said with a forced chuckle at the end.

"Don't feign modesty. As a bender you hold a special place in this world. We all have a duty, to the spirits and our fellow man, some great and some small. The duty of a bender is often a great one, and those whom follow the righteous path of the spirits are fated to achieve this. Are you aware of your own duty in this world, your purpose?" The preachers prying crossed a line from unnecessarily friendly to exceedingly creepy.

"Couldn't tell you. I do have to get going now we have a long road ahead of us," He wasn't even going to try and make a graceful exit, giving a quick good bye, before turning and walking away.

"Walk with the spirits young earthbender. You have a greater purpose my friend. You'll find it one day." The words followed Yuan as he walked away, and he suppressed a shiver. When he reached the spot where he left Kunchen he noticed the airbender was gone. He looked around and saw he was in a field to the side, sending friendly air blasts at a young girl, while she returned with a few stones from the ground. A few feet from them stood a couple in their early thirties.

As he walked over he waved and greeted the couple. "Hi there my name's Yuan. I'm friends with the airbender."

"Oh hi there," the woman turned with a smile. "Kunchen actually told us about you. My name is Shtiya and this is my husband Quan. Our daughter Li, saw Kunchen was an airbender and was really excited to see another bender so we thought it would be nice to let her play." The woman was slender and short with a dark complexion and blue eyes. The man was almost as tall as Yuan with a fairer complexion and green eyes.

"Oh it's no problem. They look like they're both having fun," Yuan had almost forgotten what joy had looked like, but it was admittedly nice to see them having a good time.

"Thank you. It's not often we get benders in the village, so Li doesn't always get a lot of exposure. We've gotten her some scrolls, but she definitely likes it best when there's another person to work with." Shtiya was clearly taking joy in seeing her daughter work her bending, and Quan had a warm smile on his face.

"I get that. When I was learning to earthbend it was always best when I worked with a teacher or friend," Yuan thought back to training with Phen and Teng, bringing back a series of warm memories.

"Well, as thanks for Kunchen, we wanted to offer you to stay with us tonight, dinner and a bed,"Shtiya kindly offered.

"Oh we wouldn't want to impose."

"It's perfectly alright, we'd love to have guests, and it looks like the two have become fast friends," Quan insisted.

With thoughts of a warm meal and soft bed, Yuan happily accepted.

**********

With a fresh hot meal in front of them, Yuan and Kunchen wasted no time digging. They sat on one side of the table with Li, while Quan and Shtiya were positioned on the other. Li whispered small inside jokes in Kunchen's ear, getting giggles out of the two of them. Yuan decided to engage the two adults in conversation.

"So, Shtiya, I couldn't help notice you have a name from the water tribe. If you don't mind me asking how did you end up in the middle of the Earth States?" he asked in a friendly tone.

"Oh it's no problem. I actually grew up in Republic City, after me and my parents moved their from the North Pole," she answered politely.

Quan now spoke, "Well one day I went to the city to sell some wares, and I ended up running into her, and well …" they placed their hands on each others, and gave the other a loving smile.

"Yuck," vocalized Li, to a laugh from everyone.

"Tell you what Li, why don't you head off to bed for the night. It's past your bedtime anyway," Quan politely suggested.

"But dad…"

"Your fathers right," Shtiya decided to help. "Bed. Now."

Li left with a sigh, but not before whispering one final joke to Kunchen. As she left the remaining people turned to continue their conversation. "So Kunchen says you two are driving to see his family on the other side of the continent?" Kunchen smiled, having enjoyed telling the lie as much as Yuan had.

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing them," Kunchen responded. "That said, I've really enjoyed stopping here, Li is really something! She's really talented, and just so enthusiastic about bending."

"Thank you. We've enjoyed having you two around as well. She never gets to practice with anyone, and she really seems to have taken to you. Before you the only person she really had to talk to about bending was Preacher Kyu."

Yuan gulped at this. "Is that really wise? From the brief conversation I had with him, I got a really bad vibe. Not someone I would want to leave alone with a kid."

Quan nodded, "He's relatively new to town, and most people feel that way about him. When he first heard about Li's bending he insisted on talking to her. We supervised their sessions, and she actually seemed to be getting something from them, so we let it continue. Still, the man just weirds me out."

"I guess he might be alright. It's wrong to judge to book by it's cover." Yuan said this, but didn't quite believe this himself. At this point everyone had finished their food, so they cleared the table and did the dishes, before Shtiya and Quan adjourn to their room, while Yuan and Kunchen made themselves at home in a small guest room.

"It's nice to see you made such good friends with Li. Having a place to sleep for the night is great," Yuan congratulated as he slid into his bed.

Kunchen smiled a little as he slid into his own, "She's just the sweetest thing, and it's nice having someone to talk to."

Yuan felt a little bit guilty about this, but tried his best not to show it. "Well, thanks for getting us a place to stay for the night. I guess talking does help a little," he said with a chuckle.

Kunchen laughed at this, "It's alright. Hey, I did want to apologize for what I said in the car earlier. I didn't mean to come off as arrogant or ignorant, I just couldn't think of a better way to phrase myself."

"It's alright. I do actually know what you were trying to say," Kunchen clearly wanted to continue, but it looked like Yuan had had enough for the night, so the two quietly laid there until they fell asleep. After only an hour or two of rest, Yuan was roused when he heard a door in the house quietly close shut. He immediately sat up in bed, and seeing Kunchen was still asleep, he decided to go and investigate the noise on his own. When he entered the hallway he saw no one on either side, but as he approached the window, he saw a figure jog by. A small, childlike figure. " _Why is Li up? And where is she going?_ " he thought to himself. Deciding action would work better than thinking in this scenario, he went back and shook Kunchen awake.

"Hey," he whispered. "Li just got up and is running somewhere."

"What? Where?" asked Kunchen as he hopped out of his bed. Yuan gave a shrug, before waving him to follow. The two quietly slipped out the front door and began running in the direction Li had sped off in. They soon found themselves back at the Shrine where they saw a glow coming out the window in a back room. The two silently approached the shrine, and entered through an unlocked front entrance, careful to make sure no one was watching them. They slowly walked towards the doorway that was emitting the light. Kunchen took a look inside and saw Li lying on the ground bound in handcuffs.

He gave an involuntary gasp, but before he could turn to Yuan, the earthbender was blindsided by a fireball to the side of the head, knocking him to the ground out cold. A second one came at Kunchen's head, which he barely dodged with a quick side shuffle. He turned to face his attacker and saw Preacher Kyu standing, with an unsettling grin on his face. Once again, before Kunchen could speak, a series of fire blasts came hurtling towards him. He continued his side step dodging, until he tripped over Yuan's body, sending himself crashing to the ground. He managed to make out the phrase, "and I thought airbenders were supposed to be graceful," before he was knocked out with a swift kick to the head.

**********

Yuan and Kunchen woke within a few seconds of each other, finding themselves, along with Li, chained at their hands and feet, which were in turn chained to each other. They were at the bottom of the shrine, on the altar looking up at all the pews. From this angle, Kunchen got a clear view of the admittedly pretty, stain glass window that domed the shrine. He began studying the intricate depictions of the spirit world and all the different types of spirits being represented. His mind began racing with a thousand questions about the historical and cultural significance of the glass, when Yuan brought it to a prompt end, groggily inquiring, "Wait what just happened?" and bringing Kunchen back to reality.

"We were knocked out by Preacher Kyu. Turns out he's a firebender,"" Kunchen answered. "Li was kidnapped too, we have to help her."

"I'm right here," she piped up, just to the side of Kunchen, where he couldn't see.

"Oh."

"Li, why did you come here?" Yuan asked as calmly as he could muster in this situation. "Has the preacher … done anything bad to you? I mean other than this."

"No, Preacher Kyu has been helping me learn earthbending. The other day when he was talking to me, he told me to come visit the shrine late at night, so we could do a special night practice. He told me not to tell my parents, because they wouldn't let me do it. I'm sorry, I didn't think he would do this. He always seemed so nice," Li was clearly on the verge of tears as she explained the story.

Yuan and Kunchen shared a brief look, in utter disbelief at the young girls innocence, before trying to console her. "It's alright Li, we all make mistakes," Kunchen said in a reassuring voice.

"You just have to be more careful in the future," said Yuan. After it sounded like her sobbing had gone down, Yuan returned to business. "We need to find a way out of these chains. Any ideas?"

"None, I'm sorry," admitted Kunchen with a defeated sigh. The two sat in silence for another several minutes, before they heard Preacher Kyu's disgustingly peppy voice echo into the main room of the shrine.

"Yes, I'm certain the girl will make an excellent candidate. The airbender also has some potential, but the earthbender looked like a dead end. Still we've never had a surplus, so I figured the more the merrier." The dehumanizing way he referred to them was enough to instill a sense of panic in Yuan. He hurriedly tried to shake his chains off, to an obviously futile result.

"Wait, I got an idea," Kunchen announced proudly. He extended his index finger while retracting the others. He generated a concentrated cyclone of air at the tip of his finger, before placing it over the keyhole in his chains. He released the air, which blew open his lock, freeing his hands. He quickly repeated with his feet, before moving on and undoing Li's locks. Before he could get to Yuan's he looked up and saw the preacher was running towards them, having heard the noise of Li's chains hitting the ground.

Thinking fast, he scooped Li up underneath himself, and sent an airblast under his feet, propelling the two into the air. As they did so, Kyu sent a massive fire ball down their way, which they barely dodged, while Yuan was lightly licked by one of the resulting flames. Kunchen and Li shot through the air, until Kunchen burst through the glass ceiling, back first. Father Kyu ran out the door, both to avoid the glass shower, and also to recapture his escaped hostages. Yuan turned face down, to shield himself from the glass, which rained on him with minimal damage. "Don't mind me guys, I'm just chained burned, and cut all over." he grumbled as he furiously tried to inchworm himself off the altar and up the stairs, while avoiding the large shards of glass.

Kunchen and Li landed softly, outside the front entrance of the Shrine, with Preacher Kyu emerging from the doorway. Kunchen released Li and created a large cyclone of air to push the preacher back. Ku dug his heels into the ground and threw his arms across his face for protection. After being trapped for a few seconds, he brought his fist back, before throwing a sideways arced fireball at the two benders opposing him. Li stamped on the ground creating a small earth wall between the two and the fire, but the fireball burst on impact, and the shockwave sent Kunchen and Li crashing into each other. After both sides recovered, they each proceeded to throw fast and furious volleys of their own elements at each other. Kunchen stood in front of Li, and knocked away any fire aimed at her with an airblast, but the two were slowly being pushed backwards by the preacher.

Kunchen began to falter underneath the onslaught, and was hit in the stomach by a blast of fire, throwing him and Li to the ground. As he looked up, expecting to see a wave of fire to finish them, he saw Yuan on his stomach flopping out of the shrines double doors. The unbelievably angry looking avatar managed to turn himself to his back, where he lifted and slammed his ankles against the ground, kicking up a mound of earth that shot from his feet to Kyu's, knocking the preacher off balance. The preacher turned to his new adversary and gave a sudden smile as he lifted his fist and prepared to finish a helpless Yuan.

Before he could do so, Kunchen gave one final massive air jump, and managed to flip over Kyu, to right in front of Yuan, landing just as a wave of fire burst from the preachers hand. Kunchen released another cyclone from his palms, meeting and stopping the fire right as it would roast the two benders. Soon he and Kyu were locked in an elemental game of tug-of-war, with each side doing their best to overpower the other. As Kunchen slowly began to lose ground, he turned one of his arms back, and created two mini cyclones on the tips of his fingers, which he shot back into Yuan's locks.

Now free Yuan slammed both his palms into the ground, shooting up a wall of earth between the two and Kyu. Acting faster than Kunchen thought possible, Yuan shot forward, punching into the wall, sending stones flying out at Preacher Kyu. The preacher dodged the first two, but was caught in the shoulder by the third, and was thoroughly pummeled by the ensuing nine. Now with the enemy on his back, Yuan burst through the wall, emerging with his two fists now encased in gauntlets of stone. The preacher stood back as Yuan charged down at him, and when the two were in point blank range, he shot off a final fireball. Again with surprising swiftness, Yuan twisted his head, avoiding the blast by inches. He then swung back his right fist, and landed a solid hook into the preachers jaw. Kyu flew swiftly to the ground, and laid there motionless for a moment, before he began breathing again.

Once it was clear he was unconscious, Kunchen walked up to Yuan and asked, "Was it really necessary to get that close."

"Not necessary," said Yuan as he turned, revealing a huge lopsided grin. "Satisfying."

**********

"We can't thank the two of you enough," repeated Shtiya for the third time, as Yuan and Kunchen had finished filling the jeep with gas. There had been some hysterics following their defeat of Preacher Kyu, but the local law enforcement had gotten everything back in check. Both Yuan and Kunchen had given statements, and along with the chains and the preachers cryptic journal, that had a heavy focus on Li, that had been enough to put the preacher away before a trial. The two returned Li back to her parents safe and sound, and enjoyed an enormous celebratory breakfast for their actions. Now it was time to hit the road again, and even Yuan was finding it a little hard to say goodbye to the unbelievably generous family.

"It was nothing. We're just glad that Li is ok," replied Yuan. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kunchen giving Li a hug good bye, before getting into the drivers seat. "If we're ever near by again, we'll make sure to drop by. Wouldn't miss your cooking for the world."

"Please, don't be strangers," gave Shtiya as a final request. Yuan got into his seat of the car, and him and Kunchen waved goodbye, as they sped off on the open road.

After five minutes of driving in silence Kunchen turned to Yuan, "It was harder than I thought, saying good bye."

"They were really good to us. I'm just glad we were able to help them. I knew Kyu was bad news, but I didn't think that bad." Yuan never thought he would miss the services back in Urumqi, but now, it didn't seem like too bad of an alternative.

"That guy was sick! What do you think all his talk about 'candidates' was?" Kunchens voice was a mix of anger and curiosity.

"I don't know. I've tried to keep it out of my mind." This was a bald faced lie. Yuan hadn't stopped going over the words in his head, comparing them to the sermon and the preachers tirade on duty as a bender.

"Oh, ok," Kunchen took this as a sign that the conversation was over. The two sat in silence for another several minutes, before Yuan began to feel bad about how he'd initially treated his traveling companion.

"I figured out I was the avatar when I was nine," he said with a sigh. Kunchen looked up from the road with a curious look on his face. "From earlier, before we reached the village, you asked when I learned I was the Avatar. I learned when I was nine. My mom had sent me to bed without supper one night, for some reason or another, I forget. Anyways, she sent me to my room, and I was really mad. Like super mad. Eventually I got so steamed that one of my hands actually burst into flames. I panicked at first, but once I realized it didn't hurt, I figured out how to control it. It took me a few days to figure out what this meant, and when I did, I could barely believe it. I didn't want to be the Avatar. Nobody wanted to be the Avatar. Everyone hates the Avatar. So I hid it, from everyone. I figured if I never showed anyone, then I could live an ordinary life. Seemed like a good enough idea at the time."

"Wow, umm … thanks for opening up about that. Seriously I had no idea," Kunchen had a genuinely touched expression on his face.

"No problem. It actually felt good to open up about it for once." The two continued talking as they drove along, and for once Yuan didn't mind the conversation.

**Coming Soon: Chapter 4 - Giving Aid**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thanks for reading. I'd love to hear what you guys think of the story, so please share any feedback you got.


	4. Giving Aid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuan and Kunchen's travel is interrupted yet again, as they become caught up in a major terrorist plot in a busy shipping hub.

Yuan and Kunchen, two days after they had taken down Preacher Kyu and saved Li, learned the hard truth of the universe, that food is finite. This lesson came during breakfast on the second day, when they found that the remaining food in their supply was a single loaf of bread. In a unanimous decision, they both opted to stop at the nearest city on the road, which was sadly a 5 hour drive. It was mid-afternoon when they arrived taking them an additional hour to find the market square of the city. They parked the jeep and made their way into the bustling crowds of people, flooding into the streets, trying to get to the markets before they closed for the day.

The market square was at the center of the city, taking up multiple blocks. Tents and open shop windows crowded the sides of streets, all shaded underneath the modestly sized buildings of the downtown area. Though it was easily dwarfed by Zaofu, the crowds and 6 story buildings were still enough to fluster Yuan, frequently distracting him while they were looking for food. Kunchen had to continually tap on his shoulder to bring him back down to earth. After they had found some bread, vegetables, and rice that looked good, the two found themselves at a fruit stand examining the produce.

"These papayas look pretty good," Kunchen remarked, squeezing the fruit a little bit.

"Oh yeah they seem great," replied Yuan in an uninterested tone.

"You know for all the crap you gave me the other day about stopping and staring, it looks like your neck is actually made of rubber from all your gawking," Kunchen said with a dry chuckle.

Yuan turned his head to him with a flat and annoyed look, "It was a sunset. You wanted to stop to watch a sunset. An event that by it's very nature, happens literally everyday." Feeling his point was thoroughly made, Yuan returned his attention to the city.

"At least the sunset is pretty. This city isn't much, even if we're not comparing it to Zaofu. Now that I think about it, it looked pretty crummy on the way in. A lot of the roadways were closed down, and a bunch of the buildings looked like they were about to collapse. I wonder if something happened recen-…. Are you even listening?" Kunchen turned his attention away from the fruit back to his traveling companion. Yuan still had his head turned up at the buildings, but the look on his face was no longer blank wonder, but one of puzzled focus, directed at a building on the other side of the intersection they were on. "Yuan?"

"Kunchen, do you see that light in the building?" Yuan pointed upwards. Kunchen turned his head to see a small red light flashing in the ….

**BOOM**

The entire sky came alive in a violent burst of fiery light, blinding the two benders. The light came with a deafening roar, that quickly faded to a high pitched ringing in the ears of all those within several hundred meters. Yuan and Kunchen both slapped their hands over their ears, and were rapidly blinking their vision back. When it had finally returned, the two looked upon the crowd to see chaos had overtaken the market square. People were rushing, shoving, and mutely screaming trying to escape. From below where the explosion had occurred dust was settling around a pile of rubble, with the gray slowly fading revealing stains of red within the pile. They both looked around in desperation, trying to find a …

**BOOM**

This new explosion came from above, this time, right across the street from them. Not blinded by this one, and incapable of being rendered deaf again, Yuan reacted quickly. He sprinted through the crowd, quickly throwing aside anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way. Now underneath the epicenter, he raised his hands to catch the debris, only a meter or two before it would have crushed someone. His knees buckled under the weight of the building chunks, but he held his stance. People all fled from around him, and after a few seconds, he was able to lower the debris without harm. As he looked up, he turned to Kunchen who was too busy staring at the back at him to notice the red light flashing in the building next to him. Yuan quickly began waving his hands towards the light, causing Kunchen to turn his head, a second before …

**BOOM**

This one went with another soundless ring, although Yuan caught it in all it's bright and violent glory. He turned his face to the ground, eyes closed and filling with tears. Half from the light, half from the sudden loss of his friend.

The tears quickly turned to those of happiness, as Yuan regained his vision, and saw that Kunchen had surrounded himself and several passerby's with cyclon of air, that had shielded them from the the explosion. With his panicking slowly subsiding, Yuan turned only to have his stomach drop. A single bag was sitting at the center of the intersection, with everyone in the crowd scrambling around it, not even noticing. Yuan's mind briefly flashed back to Omashu, when he and Teng had seen a similarly unattended bag. They paid it no mind, and after they had rounded a few corners, they heard the massive boom, and had turned back to witness the ensuing carnage. All told 5 people had lost their lives that day, and Yuan wasn't about to let there be a repeat of that. He slammed his heel against the ground and opened a deep hole beneath the bag, letting it drop for a second before closing the small crevice with a quick hand motion. A another few seconds passed before he felt a small shake of the earth, that indicated the bag had detonated without damage.

Yuan let out a small sigh and began to walk back to help Kunchen, when he felt a small tug at his leg. A man, no older than thirty, had grabbed ahold of his pants and was trying to beg for help. His left leg was mangled and bloody, causing him to crawl along the ground, as he was pleading. Slowly Yuan's hearing returned and he made out the words, amidst the cacophony of the crowd around them, "Please take me to the river."

**********

If Yuan had any doubts about the man's request before, all were lost as he stood in the shadow of the massive ship, currently harbored along the river, in the port of the city. It was a United Republic battleship, although a quick glance at the top revealed the weapons had all been decommissioned. People were storming the ramps leading into the ship, all scrambling to get in as fast as possible. Yuan stood in the crowd, with the injured man slung over his shoulder. Behind him stood Kunchen, who was helping a woman with a bad limp stand. It took them a few minutes to fight their way into the ship, but eventually they got in, only to see the chaos building inside.

All manner of injured persons were filled into beds and seats, as worried family and friends stood over. In between these throngs were several watertribe men and women rushing about, all of whom were wearing white aprons with a small blue wave pattern on them. " _Ahhhh," thought Yuan to himself. "This is a Healing Corps. ship._ "

The Healing Corps. was the one thing that Avatar Korra had accomplished that no one dared criticize. She had started the organization a few years into her peacekeeping efforts, after the death of one of her former masters, whom was said to be the greatest healer to ever live. It's mission was simple, to provide aid to all those who are injured and hurt. It didn't matter the circumstances or alliances, if you came to a Healing Corps. tent, they would work to the best of their abilities to help you. They'd helped save millions over the past few decades, and were one of the most revered organizations in the world, despite all of it's members only being volunteers, who simply had to meet a few baseline requirements for service. Yuan had seen them in action in Omashu, and held them in the utmost respect ever since.

Him and Kunchen helped their two injured into some of the last open bed's. As they made their way to the exit they saw more people stumbling or barely standing, and soon they were helping people to any open spot or seat where they could sit or lie, at least for a little bit. After an hour of work, the ship had begun to die down with beds opening up after the easier cases had been helped, and the hardest ones had found peace. Yuan and Kunchen found themselves leaning and panting against a back wall, when they were approached by an older woman flanked by a teenage girl about their age.

"My staff and patients have been mentioning an airbender and earthbender who've been helping them," began the old woman, in a warm grandmotherly voice. "I'm assuming this was you two?" They both gave tired nods. "I can't begin to thank the two of you enough. Rushes like these always leave us in mess, and extra help is always appreciated. My name is Iluak, might I ask your names?"

"I'm Kunchen"

"Yuan."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you. These past few months have been hard on all of us, and help is all too rare. Please stay the night, as payment for your help." Iluak kindly offered.

"We would love to," said Yuan happy to have another roof over his head for a night. Iluak smiled at this and gave them a final thanks, before continuing about her duties. The young girl lagged behind however. She stood only an inch shorter than Yuan, with an athletically slender frame. She had the blue eyes of the water tribe, as well as light brown hair, which she held back in small braid.

She looked at Yuan. "You have a pretty nasty cut on your forehead, do you want me to take a look?" she asked. Yuan gave a surprised expression and felt his forehead, where sure enough, an unnoticed gash was bleeding all over.

"Oh… um yeah actually, that would be great," he said still a little dazed. He sat down on a nearby chair, as the girl slowly drew water out of a sack hanging from her belt. She swirled it around into a large mid-air blob, before applying it to his forehead, where it soon began to glow, as it's cool, healing sensation washed over his face. Yuan made a small groaning noise as the water touched his face.

"Don't be such a baby," said the girl with a small smirk.

Yuan gave a quick glare, before clamping his teeth and letting out a deep exhale. "So what's your name, anyways?" he asked.

"Nerrivik."

"Iluak said you guys have been getting hit pretty hard the past few months. This wasn't the first attack?" pressed Yuan.

"No, this is the fourth," Nerrivik replied in a defeated voice.

"That explains all the closed roads and damaged buildings we saw coming in," exclaimed Kunchen as it finally dawned on him. "Why are they targeting this city though?"

"United Republic Peacekeepers recently seized control of this state, after the governor was outed for having ties to corruption and terrorism. The Rising Earth took offense to this, and have been attacking cities all across the state, to try and force the United Republic to pull out." Nerrivik explained.

"Then why aren't the United Republic helping? Isn't that their whole job?" Kunchen's voice was shocked and indignant. He couldn't imagine why this was being allowed to continue.

"They're stuck trying to restore order in the capital, where there have been even more attacks. They sent out orders to all local police forces, but most either support The Rising Earth, have been bribed, or are being threatened to comply. Our local police tried to act, but the second attack targeted the police station. They stopped trying after that." Nerrivik continued her narration, her voice devoid of hope.

"So that's it, they're just going to let them continue killing people?" Kunchen was completely outraged.

"Thats how it usually works," finally chimed in Yuan. The two gave him a questioning look. "I've had to deal with Rising Earth threats in my village. They come in, push everyone around that doesn't immediately comply, and kills those that might oppose them. Do you know how many agents are active in this city?"

Nerrivik had a surprised look from how knowledgeable Yuan was, but quickly shook it off, "It's only one, we believe. He makes demands a few hours after every bombing. People have started calling him 'The Bloody Bomber'."

"One guy can do all this?" Kunchen's disbelief was growing each second.

"Sadly," replied Nerrivik, as she finished her healing. "I can show you guys to a room where you can stay for the night." They kindly accepted, and Nerrivik motioned them to follow. They ended up trekking through a maze of narrow hallways and stairs within the hull of the ship, before finally arriving at a small room with two open cots. She let them get settled before returning to her duties around the ship.

"I can't believe that people are just letting something like this happen. How does it come to this?" Kunchen was asking almost rhetorically.

"I don't know, but this situation is more common then you'd think," replied Yuan trying to be reassuring. "People can just be monsters sometimes."

"And there's nothing we can do to help?" Asked Kunchen one last time in desperation.

Yuan gave Kunchen a final grim look, before he rolled over in his cot to sleep. He honestly couldn't think of any way to help. At least not until the next morning.

**********

The idea struck Yuan as he and Kunchen were eating breakfast in the ships dining facilities. A large room, meant to accommodate the ships full 100 man crew, it felt empty with only the 30 some odd members of the Healing Corps. After all that had happened yesterday, Yuan and Kunchen had completely forgotten they hadn't eaten all day, and woke up this morning determined to make up for this mistake.

Sitting at a table a row over, there were three medics all listening intently to a radio. It was loud enough that Yuan and Kunchen began to overhear the news station playing. "The attacks in Dailan's market square yesterday unfortunately claimed the lives of 13 innocent men and women. This has been the fourth such attack on the city in the past few weeks, and there seems to be no end in sight. After the attack, the perpetrator, informally known as 'The Bloody Bomber' released a statement on an untraceable radio signal, which we will replay a recording of." There was a brief pause followed by a crackle of static. After this a distorted and heavy voice boomed through the radio's speakers, "Greetings, again, to the people of Dailan. Because The United Republic has continued their failure to remove themselves from internal Earth States affair, The Rising Earth has no choice, but to continue our campaign towards freedom. The attack at the market square today is another sad reminder that The United Republic cares nothing for the people of the Earth States, and is willing to let them die by the dozen, so they can continue their imperialistic stranglehold on our once great people. The Rising Earth will continue our fight to remove them from the Earth States, and see to a bright future, with freedom and peace for all people of our nation."

This was enough to make Yuan's blood boil. He'd heard spiels like this before, but never had he heard someone who just murdered over a dozen people have the audacity to put the blame on The United Republic. He wasn't the only one mad, however. Across from him, Kunchen was fuming so bad his hands were actually shaking a little. It was right then, that a brilliant thought struck Yuan.

"Wait a minute... Oh, holy crap," exclaimed Yuan in a whispered voice.

Kunchen raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

"I just remembered, yesterday in the market, before one of the bombs went off, I opened a hole and buried it. It might still be intact. We should probably tell the police." He frantically tried to explain himself.

"It won't work," they suddenly heard. They both looked to the voice and saw Nerrivik sitting down at the table, next to them. "Remember what I told you yesterday, the police have stopped looking into it."

Yuan slammed his fist into the table, frustrated his plan had been shot down so quick. Before he could raise objection it was Kunchen who spoke, "Then we'll just have to check it out ourselves." Both gave him a surprised look before he continued, "If there's something we can do to try and stop this guy, then the only right thing to do is to try. I'm not going to do nothing while he keeps on murdering innocent people."

The table was silent for a brief moment before Yuan sighed, " You're right, we at least have to try."

"Ok then, when do you guys want to head out?" asked Nerrivik. Once again, there was a round of surprised looks, this time from the two boys.

"Don't you have to be working here?" Asked Kunchen, puzzled at her sudden enthusiasm to help.

"Not exactly. I'm not a full member of the Healing Corps. I came to this city a few weeks ago and ran out of money. This was right after the first attack, so I volunteered to help, for food and a bed. Iluak saw that I could heal with waterbending and took me on immediately. I'm only here to help in a volunteering capacity, I can leave when I want." Yuan and Kunchen gave each other a quick look after digesting her situation, and with a small shrug welcomed her to the team.

**********

The trio began their walk back to the decimated market shortly after their meal ended. They began in silence, but as he had before with Yuan, Kunchen grew uncomfortable with the silence from their new friend, so he decided conversation would help, "So, Nerrivik, you said you were just passing through, where are you from originally.?"

"Northern Water Tribe," she replied tersely.

"And what brings you down here?" he persisted.

"Just traveling."

"Oh," the airbender grew quiet in defeat, and Yuan suppressed a laugh, keeping his typical stoneface. As much as he'd grown to like Kunchen, he still liked seeing him get shot down.

Nerrivik took notice of the airbenders defeated tone, "Oh, I'm sorry, I just don't like talking about myself. What about you two? You don't see a lot of earth and airbenders traveling together."

Kunchen immediately launched into his and Yuan's rehearsed story of Kunchen's fake relatives, as Nerrivik politely nodded along. Before long, however, they began to enter the market square, and all conversation died as they looked on in horror.

The debris still hadn't settled, giving their tour through the wreckage a brown filter over everything. Store fronts that had only yesterday been lively and surrounded by people now stood completely destroyed. Dried blood stains were seen all around, coating several pieces of rubble in a dark red splatter. The biggest pieces of rubble had been moved into neat piles and pushed off into the corners. Sawhorses were found blocking off specific streets, but they were easily ignored without any officers to enforce them. The police had done their duty, however, as the bodies that had once littered the scene had been removed, although the stench of death was still heavy in the air.

The group soon found themselves at a deserted intersection, that seemed particularly affected by the blasts. Yuan held up his hand, signaling the others to stop. He closed his eyes and exhaled, focusing entirely on the ground. He felt around with his bending, and soon found a small cavern, about 5 meters underground. A quick stomp of his foot reopened the hole he'd made yesterday, and sent the remains of the bomb flying to the surface. The three approached the shattered mess that was once an explosive.

They carefully began to examine the pieces. Almost all of it was contorted beyond recognition, and covered in a black sooty powder. After a few moments, it was beginning to seem like a lost cause, when suddenly Nerrivik spoke up.

"Hey I actually recognize this logo." The two boys shot her a quick look. "This was a complimentary bag from a local hotel."

"Do you know where it is?" Yuan asked quickly.

"Yeah, come on follow me." Nerrivik ran off at a fast pace, with Yuan and Kunchen being quick to follow.

"Do you guys think this is where he's staying?" asked Kunchen

"Maybe, maybe not, but it's our best bet right now," replied Nerrivik from up ahead.

"Why would he leave behind such an obvious clue though?" Kunchen was still truly puzzled.

"It was a firebomb. If I hadn't suffocated it, it would have destroyed all the evidence. He probably put it on the ground level so it would do the most damage." Yuan explained in a grim tone.

The two others were silent for a bit, before Kunchen spoke up, "How do you know so much about bombs?"

"Like I said, my village had a lot of problems from The Rising Earth when I was growing up." This was only a half truth. The village had always been pushed around by the organization, and frequently made to meet their demands, but Yuan had never had never seen a bomb go off with the exception of yesterday and Omashu. He'd learned plenty, however, from a lecture Teng gave him, before Li Chen and Phu had first come to Urumqi when Yuan was 14. Teng had been rightfully wary of what the two might try to do, and had briefed Yuan and Phen about the various kinds of bombs they should look out for, just in case. Luckily the two "Freedom Fighters" had already attacked somewhere else, and were just using Urumqi to lie low. The lesson from Teng, however, had stuck with Yuan.

The three arrived at the hotel in only 15 minutes time, and were quickly directed by a disinterested bellhop to a room that had been rented for the past several weeks. They found themselves at a locked door, which Kunchen quickly blew the locks on, ignoring the various moral and legal ramifications of such an act. The door swung open to a room filled with pieces of metal, clay, wires and paper strewn about. The three slowly walked through the various supplies, moving towards a desk littered with various diagrams of different wirings. They began to dig through the documents, with Kunchen taking special interest of a map, with various red X's and O's marking different locations. Yuan took notice of a diagram, that was marked in the same ink, although he couldn't quite make out what it was. Nerrivik looked over both their shoulders, and let out a horrified gasp.

"What is it," Yuan asked her, in a calm, if slightly worried voice.

She took both the papers they were looking at, and put them on the table. She pointed at the map, "This circle marks the harbor, and the diagram Kunchen was looking at had the same layout as the Healing Corps. ship."

Yuan and Kunchen both stood there in a terrified silence for a moment. "But …. wait, why would he … I mean how could he..?" Kunchen began, his voice trembling.

Yuan's shock quickly turned to rage, "If you're not with them you're against them." he said in a quiet, yet infuriated tone. He quickly broke towards the door, "Come on, we said we were going to try and stop him, and now we know where he is. Let's go!" he roared these orders as he turned the corner, now at a running pace.

Without a chance to think about their next action, Nerrivik and Kunchen chased after him, having to sprint just to catch up. It would normally be an almost hour walk to get from the hotel to the harbor, but at their pace they arrived by the docks in 15 minutes. They gave a quick search around the area, before Nerrivik saw a movement on the top deck of the ship. Wasting no time, Yuan grabbed both his friends under his arms, before launching them into the air with a spike of earth.

They all landed with surprising grace, considering how chaotic their launch had been. Up top they saw a shocked 20 year old man, with a bag slung over his back. Around him, and on various sides of the ship they saw a series of explosive devices all lined up. Nerrivik drew a whip of water from the pouch at her side, and shot it directly at the bomber, who narrowly managed to dodge with a roll. He responded by throwing three small explosive balls at the trio, but Kunchen threw them into the air with an air gust, where they exploded harmlessly. The bomber used these explosions as a brief distraction, allowing himself to escape down a hatch to the lower part of the deck. Nerrivik gave immediate chase while Yuan jumped to the side of the ship, and drew a puck of earth from the ground below.

"Kunchen," he barked, "Keep these bombs in the air, and make sure they can't do any damage, we'll go after him." After receiving a confirming nod from the airbender, who soon began picking up the explosive devices in a ball of air, Yuan jumped down the hatch to the lower decks. Below he saw Nerrivik jumping back as two smaller explosions landed in front of her, before returning with a blast of her water. Yuan ran to give her aid, throwing his earth disk at the bombers head. The insurgent was faster than they expected, both dodging the water, and throwing a small bomb into the disk, destroying it mid-flight. He promptly ducked around a corner, with the two benders pursuit.

They followed him through the maze that was the former warship, where they eventually found him standing at the end of a long hallway. In hand he had what Yuan quickly identified as another fire bomb. With a sick grin, he dropped the bomb, before stepping backwards through a doorway, and sealing the large steel door. The explosive went off the second the door closed, unleashing a stream of fire down the narrow hallway. Nerrivik shielded herself, preparing for the inevitable, but Yuan stepped between her and the blaze. Throwing both his hands forward, he met the inferno. It hit his hands, ballooning around them, and spilling out all around him. The flames were overpowering, as Yuan pushed desperately against them. Nerrivik opened her eyes, surprised she had yet to be burned, and looked on in awe as Yuan slowly began to control the flames, and draw them into his palms. He strained against them for several more seconds, with the blaze continuing to push him every inch he lost, however, he gave a grunt and fought harder. The heat began to get to him, his vision blurred, his arms grew heavier, and his whole body broke out into a torrential sweat. Giving one last push, he drew the remaining flames from the bomb into his hands, before collapsing to the ground, exhausted.

Before he completely passed out, he looked up to see the door had been blown off it's hinges by the explosion, with a shocked bomber standing in the doorway. A stream of water shot over Yuan, landing squarely in bombers chest, driving him into a wall, and freezing him in place. As Yuan faded from consciousness, he felt Nerrivik shake at him, but for the life of him, he couldn't respond.

**********

Yuan woke inside the ships main healing bay. As his eyes slowly fluttered awake, he made out three figures standing over him, who he soon recognized as Kunchen, Nerrivik, and Iluak. He put his head in his hands and let out a groan.

Iluak smiled at his response, "I hope you're feeling alright, it didn't seem to severe, just some heat stroke."

"What … what happened?" He groggily managed, feeling tired and dehydrated.

"We got him," Kunchen announced in an excited voice. "Nerrivik managed to pin him, and the Dailan police have him took him away about an hour ago."

"How long was I out?"

"Only a few hours," answered Iluak. "Nerrivik told me how you threw her to the side when the bomb went off, but ended up taking the brunt of the heat. It all sounded quite heroic." Yuan had a puzzled look on his face, so Iluak decided to continue. "I guess it could be hard to remember, I imagine it all happened very quickly. I'll let you get some rest."

As she stepped away, Nerrivik began to speak up. "That was really impressive what you did back there," she said in a genuinely impressed tone.

"What, when I threw you to the side?" Yuan was still very much confused about what exactly had happened leading up to him passing out.

Kunchen gave a small gulp, "Ummm … Yuan, she knows."

"Knows what?"

"She knows that you're …" he said in a timid voice, but Yuan's eye's beginning to bulge indicated that he had figured it out. Both heads turned to Nerrivik who was standing there with a surprising confidence.

"Look, I realize what a difficult position you're in, and I don't want to be a burden. But I've been meaning to get back on the road for a while. Now that the bombers gone, I've got no real reason to stay here in Dailan. So I was hoping that I might be able to hitch a ride with you two."

Yuan had a dumbfounded expression on his face, while Kunchen stared at his feet. "You really want to come with us?" the Avatar asked.

"I've got nowhere else to go. I'd help as much as I could on the road. Besides you don't have too much farther to go."

"And if we say no?" He felt touched by offer, but was deeply unsure if he wanted more people traveling with him then necessary.

"I could go to the press, and let them know that the Avatar is sitting in a medical ship, and won't be able to leave for several more hours." She gave this answer with a bluntness that Yuan would have appreciated, if it wasn't a threat towards him. He looked to Kunchen, who gave him sorry expression and shrug, letting Yuan know that he'd already had this argument.

With a sigh, Yuan looked to Nerrivik, "Ok, how soon can we be ready to leave?"

**********

**Coming Soon: Chapter 5 - Changing Course**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave some feedback, anything helps the writing process.


	5. Changing Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuan, Kunchen, and Nerrivik finally arrive at the White Lotus Temple, only to receive some bad news.

For all of their initial worrying, Yuan and Kunchen were pleasantly surprised by how much they enjoyed Nerrivik's company. Kunchen liked the extra conversation, and Yuan was fond of her sarcastically making fun of the airbender during these conversations. She helped ease the awkward silences that fell between the two boys, and her past several months on the road had made her a pretty good cook. Quick with a joke, but revealed very little about her life before she began traveling. This didn't bother Yuan at all, who could careless about most anyone's backstory, but Kunchen clearly wanted to dig further. She was able to brush off any probing questions, only revealing that she originally came from the Northern Water Tribe.

This slight awkwardness aside, the final four days of the journey, between Dailan and the White Lotus Temple, passed quickly and peacefully. On the fourth night, when they were roughly two hours away from the temples location, they decided to stop and sleep before arriving first thing in the morning.

They woke at dawn, ate a small breakfast, before getting on their way. The final drive passed with little conversation, everyone too anxious about finally reaching their destination. Yuan was surprised to find himself feeling as sad as he was about the journey ending. " _I guess I've grown to like these guys better than I thought I would._ " He quickly pushed these thoughts down, trying to focus on what he would say to the White Lotus Sages. Would they train him at bending the different elements? Would they help explain what it meant to be the Avatar? Were there any cool powers he didn't know about yet?

They took a sharp turn on the small forest road they were traveling, and soon emerged into a clearing, with a large temple surrounded by a large grass field. There were several tents set up in this field, but the trio of benders paid it no mind, as they took in the beauty of the temple. It was an almost entirely white structure, with blue tiled roofs and red wood frames for doors and windows. A gate was positioned in front of a main courtyard, which lead into the temple proper, a three part building, with a 4 story structure at the center, flanked by two 3 story structures.

" _This is it_ " thought Yuan to himself. " _This is what I've been looking for. All my questions can be answered, and I'll finally have a place where I don't have to hide._ " The last thought excited him the most, as he'd almost forgot what it was like to live life without constantly making sure he wasn't revealing himself as the Avatar. But now that he was here, he could finally lay down his burden.

A small elderly man, in a set of blue and white robes emerged from the temple's gates. "Why hello there friends. What brings you to this temple? I don't recall being informed of any visitors for today."

Yuan hopped out of the jeep and made a bowing gesture towards the man. "I'm sorry we couldn't let you know sooner master, but we've been on the road for a while now. We've come to seek the guidance of the Order of the White Lotus."

The man's brow furrowed slightly. "White Lotus? They moved out of this temple almost a decade ago."

"Wait …. What?" Yuan managed to stammer.

"I'm sorry, but whoever told you this is where you could find the White Lotus is a few years too late. There's a town only a few miles from here that you can stay at though." And with that, the man turned and walked back through the gate.

Yuan stood there for a moment, utterly dumbfounded by what had just happened. Kunchen reached out a comforting hand. "Yuan, it's ok. We'll figure something out. Why don't we head to town and try to get our heads straight," he said in a meek and apologetic voice.

"No."

"No what?"

"I mean no, I'm not done here yet. I'm going to go talk to this guy and get some answers." Yuan's voice was eerily calm.

"And by talk you mean ..." Kunchen had retracted his hand at this point.

Yuan had already begun walking to the gate. He gave a small shrug and replied, "Don't worry I'll be back in 5 minutes." At this point the calm in his voice had gone from eerie to terrifying.

After he had passed through the gate and out of earshot, Nerrivik spoke up, "Shouldn't we follow him, you know, to make sure he doesn't commit a homicide?"

A clearly scared Kunchen turned to face her, "No I think it's best if we let him do this one by himself."

"Does he only come in two modes, monotone or enraged?"

Kunchen thought for a moment. "The only time I've seen him genuinely smile was when he punched a Preacher in the face."

"..."

"Oh don't worry, the guy totally deserved it."

**********

Yuan caught the old man as he was about to walk through the main entrance, on the other side of the court yard. He grabbed the man by the shoulder, "Hey wait a minute, I still have a few questions."

The man turned to him with a sour look on his face, "I'm sorry that you were misinformed, sir, but there's nothing I can do to help."

"I'm sorry, _sir_ , but that's not good enough. I traveled almost two weeks to get here, and I'm not about to walk away with nothing. Do you know about any other White Lotus Temples? " He let his anger slip through initially, but managed to draw it back.

" _Sigh_ … I'm not completely sure, but there might still be a temple on Airbender Island, in Republic City," the man replied.

"Anywhere else?" Yuan's tone turned to pleading. He'd traveled all this way to avoid that city, and he had no intention to go back on this impulse.

"Once again, I'm sorry, but that's the only one I know of. May I please return to my regular duties now?" The man turned towards the door again.

Yuan grabbed him by the shoulder again, his anger reigniting again, "Wait, I'm not done …" he trailed off as the front entrance and two men emerged.

They were both tall and imposing men, with thick beards. Yuan immediately recognized from their uniforms that they were United Republic Peacekeepers. He quickly retracted his hands to his sides, and looked down to avoid eye contact, before he began to berate himself for not realizing what the tents in the field had meant. One of the men looked between Yuan and the old man. "Is this kid bothering you?" he addressed the older man.

"No, he's just frustrated. It's no trouble." The old man was clearly annoyed, but he felt sorry enough for Yuan that he didn't want to cause any extra problems. The soldier regarded the old man for a moment before he walked over to Yuan.

He stood 6 inches in front of Yuan, puffing his chest out to further exaggerate the size advantage he had. He looked up and down the young Avatar, carefully sizing him up. Yuan looked up once to meet his gaze, before quickly looking back down. The Peacekeeper gave a chuckle at this, "Well at least this dirt pounding scum knows his place. Stop bothering this man, and get out of this temple, unless you want trouble."

Yuan quietly acquiesced with a nod, before he turned back through the courtyard and out the front gate. He silently walked back and got in the jeep only briefly looking at Kunchen and Nerrivik. "Ok, that's all I needed," he said, his voice defeated. "Let's check out that town he was talking about."

**********

"So that's it? Nothing he can do, good day?" asked Nerrivik. The group had found a small tea shop in town, and decided to use it to regroup and collect their thoughts. Yuan had explained what had happened inside the temple, neglecting to mention the possibility of another temple in Republic City. The option was off the table, so it didn't even warrant conversation.

"Yeah, pretty much. I would have kept asking, but the Peacekeepers were pretty clear about not wanting me around," Yuan replied with a small sigh.

"Why are the Peacekeepers such enormous jerks?" asked Kunchen. As they had driven into town, Kunchen and Nerrivik had got to witness The United Republic's finest first hand. A group of soldiers had been out on a small patrol, when an older couple accidentally bumped into one of them. The couple immediately bowed their heads and and began to spew forth a series of apologies. The soldier listened to them before he replied with a slew of insults and slurs, such as "Dirt Pounders" and "Clay Eaters". Yuan had actually had a few of these directed at him before, mostly from Bartok.

"They aren't all bad, but a lot of them let their power go to their head, and decide that it's their new duty to let everyone around them know how they're just a bunch of clay eaters, and should feel graced by the Republic's presence." Yuan gave a small snort after he was done explaining.

"Man, the longer I spend out of Zaofu or The Air Temples, the worse the world seems. How is everything this messed up?" Kunchen asked, still trying to piece together all that he'd experienced over the past several days. His worldview had been shaken time and time again, and it was really starting to show.

"It's not all that bad," Nerrivik defended. "There are plenty of good people out there, they just don't stand out as much as the bad."

Yuan shook his head at this. "I don't know what it's like in the North Pole, but Kunchen's not wrong; everything in The Earth States is pretty messed up."

Nerrivik gave an offended look. "I have been traveling all over The Earth States for the past 3 months, you know. Just because you want to see the worst in the world doesn't mean you need to drag everyone else down with you."

Yuan should have felt bad about upsetting both his companions this much, but his own misery at the situation was really enjoying the company. After a few moments of awkward silence, he got up to make a quick trip to the bathroom. He positioned himself at the urinal, and noticed that the wall next to him was covered in wanted posters. Yuan looked up and down these posters, checking for anyone he might recognize from Urumqi. He saw the Iron Scorpion and The Rising Earth's leader Haiyan featured prominently above all others. He also saw Phu's and had a chuckle over how comically bad he looked in his photo. After he was done laughing, he suddenly noticed another familiar face, that stopped him mid-stream.

It was an older picture, about two years old, from when he had initially joined the Village Guard. He still had his bun, and his features were noticeably younger, thanks to his ensuing puberty, but if you squinted just right, it was clearly Yuan's off kilter smile staring back at you. Underneath there was the standard legal fair, but the two parts that Yuan noticed were the phrases, "Wanted for aiding and abetting in terror activities" and " a 5,000 yuan reward; alive."

He shot over to the wall to grab the poster with one hand, while using the other to pull up his pants. He folded the piece and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. He checked for any United Republic Forces before completely exiting the bathroom. Once he had convinced himself the coast was clear, he made his way back to the table, where their tea had already arrived.

"Hey, me and Kunchen talked it over a bit, and decided we should probably be looking for other White Lotus Temples," Nerrivik announced as he sat down.

"Oh, ok, uhhh… yeah, that sounds good," Yuan responded absentmindedly. His mind was racing, trying to figure out what the best way would be to get out of town, and not alert the Peacekeepers.

"Um well, we didn't know where exactly to start looking," said Kunchen, slightly worried by how distracted Yuan seemed. "We were hoping you would have an idea of where to start looking."

"Uhh, well …" before Yuan could think of a way to respond, two United Republic Peacekeepers walked through the door of the tea shop, going to the front table to order. Yuan panicked at the sight of them, scrambling under the table to avoid being seen. Both Kunchen and Nerrivik peaked under, to see him sprawled out underneath. About a minute later, after the soldiers had taken a seat at the far end of the restaurant, Nerrivik finally asked, "Ok, I know you don't like them, but that was a bit extreme."

"Yeah," agreed Kunchen. "Are you ok, Yuan? I thought you just didn't like Peacekeepers, not that you were afraid of them."

"I'm not afraid of them, it's just … well … I found this in the bathroom." Yuan reached into his pocket and pulled out the poster. Kunchen and Nerrivik intently studied it for a few moments, before doing a few quick double takes with the sub-table Yuan.

"Holy crap!" Kunchen exclaimed "What is this? Why do they have a wanted poster out for you? Wait, you said that some of the Peacekeepers from your village saw you bend other elements? Do you think that the United Republic is trying to capture you?"

Yuan gave a shrug. He'd thought about whether or not they were looking for him for a while now, but he'd never been sure. Now that he had the poster he didn't know what to think. Nerrivik responded before he could, "Wait, then why would they have you wanted for terrorism, with a bounty that sized? This just draws unnecessary attention to you. If they wanted it to be a big deal then they would have called you the Avatar and had a huge bounty. If they wanted to keep it secret, then they would have made it a smaller crime, paid less, and only ask for information. But instead of that, they charge you with terrorism and give you a medium bounty. Why?"

They both began to stare intently at Yuan. "Well, you see the thing is … sigh, I might have been helping some Rising Earth members when they found out I was the Avatar." He quickly began to explain his situation, this time telling the full story of why he left Urumqi. Both his friends stared for a second before their faces contorted into different emotions. Kunchen looked angry, almost like he'd been betrayed, while Nerrivik looked puzzled, yet sympathetic.

"So you lied to me and my family is what you're saying." Kunchen said, his voice flat and angry.

"Well I thought about it and decided, 'Hey I recently fled my village after assisting two notorious terrorists fight against United Republic Forces,' wasn't the best opener possible." Yuan felt guilty, because on some level he knew the accusation had a lot of truth to it, but it was still pretty unfair given his circumstances.

"Oh of course, because it's not like it's important information that might have helped us. Thank you for keeping me in the dark, I feel so lucky to have such a great friend." Yuan and Nerrivik had never heard this much sarcasm coming from Kunchen before.

"Because you've been handling everything so well. It's not like every little thing about the world outside of Zaofu and the Air Temples doesn't completely mess up your entire worldview. You've given me so many confused puppy-dog looks over the past few days, I'm not sure if I'm traveling with an air nomad or a toddler." Yuan knew what what he was saying was harsh, but once again he'd reached a point where he didn't care.

Before Kunchen could respond, Nerrivik slapped her hand over his mouth. "That's enough from both of you. Yuan you shouldn't have lied to us for so long, but Kunchen you know why he did. You're both wrong, you're both idiots. Moving on, is there anything else you've failed to tell us?" She gave Yuan an expectant look.

He fidgeted around for a little before admitting, "Ok there was one other thing. The old man did say there might be another White Lotus Temple, but that it's in Republic City."

Kunchen threw up his arms and gave a huge eyeroll at the revelation. "Of course, cause why bother telling us, we're just the people that have to live and travel with you."

Nerrivik pointed a finger at his mouth. "Zip it. Now, Yuan, I'm assuming you didn't tell us about this because…"

Yuan snorted slightly. "Because there's no way we're going to Republic City. There are other ways you guys can have me thrown in jail or killed that don't involve traveling half a continent."

"Well do you have any other ideas?" she asked.

Everyone was silent, until Kunchen finally spoke up, "She's right, we can't have you stay at Zaofu, ditto for the Air Temples, if we want to avoid an international incident, especially now that you're a wanted criminal. The White Lotus is our only real option."

"That still doesn't address me not wanting to rot in jail, or you know, be killed. Why can't I just find somewhere to lie low?" he asked this question with a genuine sincerity.

"You said it yourself that you can't stay hidden forever. Besides, you're the Avatar, you have a duty to the world." Kunchen answered.

"Yeah, but I don't know what that is, do you? I don't know anything about being the Avatar. Nobody's ever explained what I'm supposed to do. Nobody even wants me to exist. I have no idea what I'm doing, or why I should be doing it. Maybe the world would be better off without me." Yuan began to curl up a little bit under the table, looking at the ground.

Kunchen and Nerrivik had never seen this side of him. This morning they weren't even sure it existed. The anger on Kunchen's face faded and turned to sympathy. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I know you're under a lot of pressure, but this is why we've got to get to the White Lotus Temple. They'll be able to explain what you're supposed to do. You look nothing like you do in your picture, anyways, there's no way they'll recognize you."

Yuan sat in silence for a few more moments before he came to a decision, "Well I guess if I stay in The Earth States, they'll find me eventually anyways. Might as well go down trying to find some answers."

Kunchen smiled at this, before leaving the booth to go start up the Jeep. Yuan and Nerrivik stayed back so they could finish their tea first. Yuan got up from under the table, laughing a little about how silly he felt underneath it. Nerrivik smiled a little bit at this. "Hey I did want to let you know something."

"What is it?" he asked genuinely curious.

"When you said the world might not need you. It does. I know I tried to convince Kunchen that thing's are alright, but you're right, things are seriously bad in a lot of places. Everywhere I've been to has been scarred from all the violence happening. This world needs an Avatar, even if you're not sure what to do yet."

Yuan gave her a small smile. "Thank's. That actually means a lot."

**********

The three drove off in relatively good spirits. It was easy to find a route to Republic City, and Kunchen was especially excited to drive on the new highway system they'd been installing over the past decade. Yuan had slowly been pumping himself up for the journey, and had managed to push down most of his own fears. Nerrivik was probably the most excited out of the three, although she hid it well. One of her main goals during her travels was to get to Republic City, and now she'd be there in about a weeks time.

All of this good feeling came to a precipitous end, when they found themselves stuck in a small line of other cars, in front of a large chain link fence, with a small gate and station in front of the road. A United Republic soldier walked up to the car, and handed three forms and pens to Kunchen, "Please fill these out, sirs and ma'am."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir, what is this about?" Kunchen ventured. "What are these forms for?"

The soldier gave a friendly smile, "Oh, you're about to enter United Republic controlled territory. This is just a standard border check to make sure nobody bad slips by. Nothing to worry about, just fill out the information forms, and we should have you in and out in 5 minutes or so."

After he had walked back to his office in the station, full panic set in for Yuan. He quickly reached into his pocket to grab the wanted poster. With some concentration, he managed to light a small flame underneath it, quickly reducing it to ash, which he proceeded to unceremoniously dump out the side of the car. "Ok, now as long as they don't have a copy we should be all set," he said, faking a small laugh.

"Relax, I'm sure we'll be fine. Like I said you look nothing like your old photo," reassured Kunchen. "Just fill out your form, and act confident." As easy as that sounded, Yuan struggled with the first line asking for his name. He couldn't use his own name, and all the other fakes ones he was thinking of were also probably wanted for terrorism. Eventually he picked the name Shin, because unless he'd started strapping bombs to his pigchickens, then he was one of the few people in Urumqi not in trouble with the republic.

The rest of the page he blatantly forged with lies, saying he was a stone carver from Omashu. He'd hope that this would seem low profile enough, but he soon began to worry if it was too low profile, and that they might be suspicious. He wanted to change it, but was scared that anything more would draw unnecessary attention to himself. This cycle of worry continued for several more minutes until they were finally at the front of the line.

They parked underneath the stations overhang, and were ushered out of the jeep by the soldier who'd given them the forms. He showed them to three separate office rooms, one for each of them, while two other soldiers began to give their car a thorough inspection. Yuan sat nervously in one office, while a man behind a desk looked over his form. After a quick read through, the man looked up, "This seems to be in order for the most part, but I do have a few questions."

A small sweat began to break on Yuan's neck, but he nodded for the man to continue. "Ok, now I'm assuming you weren't formally taught how to read and write?" Yuan gave a reluctant nod. His mother had taught him enough to read, but he'd always been awful at writing. "That's what I thought, there are a few spelling mistakes here, so I just want to clarify a few things. One, you're a stone carver, I think it says? Ok, good now on your reason for wanting to get into United Republic Territory I think it says that you're going to visit a friend in the city. You neglected to mention the name of the friend, however."

"Oh, uhh… her name is Jeu."

The man wrote a quick note, but began squinting at Yuan. "Would you happen to know 'Jeu's' address?"

"She didn't say …, but I think she lives near the bay." Yuan knew nothing about Republic City's geography, and hoped this would do.

The man didn't write anything this time, but continued staring at Yuan, looking him up and down. He locked eyes with Yuan, almost like he was trying to stare into his soul. They kept this staring match going for several seconds, until the first soldier walked through the door. "Just finished our checks, they're all good." The man behind the desk gave a quick nod, stamping Yuan's papers and handing them back.

"Good luck with your trip to Republic City. You've got about a week before you actually reach the borders, but the trip should be fairly peaceful. This territory is under our control," said the man, with a smile on his face. Yuan awkwardly smiled and nodded at both of them, before slipping out the door, back to the jeep.

He was the last to get in, and after he took his seat they were off. Once they had put about half a mile between them and the station, Yuan finally exhaled, "Holy crap, that was stressful. Why'd they let us out so quickly?"

Kunchen looked over with a grin on his face, "I'm a Beifong. We're pretty well respected everywhere thanks to my great-great grandma. All I have to do is flash a few identifying papers, and I can get in pretty much anywhere. See man, stop worrying so much, if we got through there, we'll get into the city."

Yuan gave a small smile at this. Maybe things would finally start working out. " _Probably not,_ " he thought to himself. " _But it's a nice thought._ "

**********

**Coming Soon: Chapter 6 - Puppet Show**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Please leave some feedback if you have any.


	6. The Puppetshow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yuad (Yuan Squad) takes a break and decides to enjoy some quality theater.

"... so we both just steam in the room for a few hours before we fall asleep. When I woke up, I noticed that it was a lot brighter than it usually was in our room. I looked up, and I'm not kidding, my mom made good on her threat. The wall and door were completely gone, and the entire side of the room was just bars."

Nerrivik gave a half snort laugh as Kunchen finished his story, and saw that even Yuan was chuckling. "Your mom seriously turned you and your brothers room into a prison cell?" she asked.

"Oh completely. It's just what you have to grow up dealing with, when your mom is the president of the worlds biggest metalbending city," Kunchen was grinning from ear to ear. He'd clearly enjoyed getting a laugh out of both his companions.

Nerrivik relaxed in her chair a bit more. The past few days had seen the trio bonding more and more, with Yuan finally dropping some of barriers. Jokes and conversation came easier and easier as they drove on, and it no longer felt like a chore to get him to say anything. Nerrivik had made the friendly suggestion to stop at a small town for the night, and deciding they could use a rest the boy's happily agreed. They were currently finishing up a hearty dinner at a small restaurant in the downtown.

"Ok, I'm not sure if I can top that, but I've got my own crazy mom story," Yuan offered up with a grin. Nerrivik was happy with how relaxed he'd been getting, but she couldn't help but feel that it was all an act to cover up his nervousness about the city. Glad he was contributing at all, she nudged him to continue.

"Well this was about two years ago, a few weeks after I joined the Village Guard. Phen wanted to throw me an initiation party and had managed to finally wear Teng down. There's no way my mom would agree to this, so they had me sneak out really late at night, and meet them at Phen's house. Teng kept making a fuss about how he'd limit how much cactus juice I drank, but Phen did something to his drink and he forgot pretty quick. This was my first time drinking the stuff, so it hit me like train. By the time we realized how late it was, the sun was already rising, so obviously I panic and try to race home. Those two thought it would be a good idea to follow me, so there we're three of us stumble-running back to my house, and trying to sneak in. When we opened the door, my mom was waiting for us at the table. So the three of us, even Teng who's like 10 years older than my mom, got an hour long lecture. I was pretty far gone so I don't remember what she was saying, but I do recall the phrases, 'irresponsible man-children' and 'my greatest disappointment' being thrown around."

Nerrivik and Kunchen were both cackling as he finished up. Nerrivik stopped when she noticed the two were looking at her expectantly. "What?" she asked quizzically.

"We both went did our 'parents freaking out' stories. Now it's your turn," said a clearly eager Kunchen.

"Oh no, I don't think …" Nerrivik began.

"Oh you're going," said Yuan in a voice caught in limbo between serious and joking. "Even I told a story. We're not leaving until we get a good story."

Nerrivik gave a small sigh. She had been trying to avoid talking about her past for a while now, but if she was going to be traveling with these two they might as well get a peek. "Well the thing is, I don't really have a story like those. My dad was always really strict with what I was and wasn't allowed to do. He wouldn't let me leave the house unless he knew where I was going, and usually he'd accompany me. I couldn't bring any friends home, especially not boys, he didn't even like me being friends with them. If I ever tried to sneak out, he'd freeze my door shut. My mom always took his side whenever we argued, and even ratted on me a few times."

Yuan and Kuchen both had surprised looks on their face. "So is that the reason you're traveling around the Earth States," Yuan asked.

She gave a small nod, "It just got to the point where I couldn't take it. About six months ago, I made a break for it, and haven't looked back since."

"Oh wow …" Kunchen said looking down, "I'm sorry for making you talk."

Nerrivik forced a fake smile, "No it's alright. I'm sorry for being so secretive about it." She was a little upset at being forced to tell the story, but she knew it would have had to come out eventually.

The three sat in a somewhat awkward silence for the next few moments. Kunchen, clearly hating it the most, was the first to break, "Tell you what, I'll go start the jeep up, if you two are cool with settling the bill." Nerrivik and Yuan each gave a nod, and Kunchen quickly bolted out of the restaurant.

Nerrivik and Yuan sat in silence for a beat before Yuan spoke up, "Yeah, I'm really sorry about all of that. Next time I'm being too nosy, just … I don't know, give me a punch or something."

Nerrivik's smile was more genuine this time, "I'll be sure to remember that."

The two got up, and paid for their meal at the front table. As they opened the front set of doors a thick fog rolled into the restaurant. "Oh holy crap," Yuan remarked, "I can't see a thing." Nerrivik nodded in agreement. Their trip into town had been well lit by a full moon, but now they could barely see two feet in front of themselves. They tepidly walked through the haze to where the jeep was parked, but Kunchen was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" asked a frustrated Yuan. "KUNCHEN! KUNCHEN! Where are you?" He began to wander off.

"Hey wait Yuan, don't go too …" Nerrivik started, but the Avatar had already wandered out of sight. Nerrivik leaned against the jeep for a minute waiting for him to return. His yells grew fainter and fainter until they eventually stopped altogether. Nerrivik felt a pit of fear growing in her stomach as the silence dragged on. "Yuan, Kunchen if this is a joke, I swear it'll end up hurting you two more. Guys?" Her voice was growing more and more desperate. She began to walk in the same direction Yuan had.

Her slow walk soon turned to a jog, and eventually a small sprint. She called out their names a few more times, but to no avail. As she continued to run her movement became more labored and she began to slow down. "What?" she thought to herself, "I'm not that tired." She continued to slow down, however, until coming to a total stop in the middle of the road. The pit into her stomach became a blackhole, as she tried desperately tried to move even a small part of her body. Her body strained, but refused to move. Her mouth couldn't even open to scream.

With a lurch, her foot moved forward, followed by the other. "What's happening? Where am I going?" She fought desperately, but continued her procession through the street. She was brought before a large truck, with two bodies with bagged heads in the back. She looked closely at their clothes and recognized them as Kunchen and Yuan. "What's happening? Who's doing this?" she screamed internally. Tears were even too much to ask of her body.

She felt a presence come from behind. A hand slowly stroked her hair, and she heard heavy breathing coming into her ear. She stood there in abject horror as a bag slid over her head, and she involuntarily made her way into the back of the truck. She was laid on her back, and soon succumbed to the sudden and overwhelming urge to sleep.

**********

Nerrivik's eyes slowly fluttered awake, only to be greeted by the relative darkness of her new surroundings. Blinking a few times to adjust to the dimness, she turned to see Yuan and Kunchen slowly rousing from their sleeps as well. She tried to move towards them, but found herself as constricted as she had been before. It made no differences as all three of them were soon violently yanked to their feet.

As they slowly came to balance on their feet, Nerrivik's eyes darted around the room, trying desperately to find out where they were. Judging from the pipes and concrete walls surrounding them, as well as the various garbage, tarps, and assorted tools strewn about, her best guess was a basement. This was confirmed as all three were turned to face a staircase, with small shafts of light streaking down itself. Sitting on the middle step was a 30-something man, unkempt with a hand outreached and a sadistic grin plastered on his face.

"I'm so glad that my actors for tonight actually look the part this time," he said heavily, in between several deep breaths. The breathing didn't seem to be the result of fatigue, but rather it looked like he was panting, as a polarbeardog does before eating.

The trio stood there frozen for a moment, before Yuan finally managed to move his mouth, "What is this? Who are you?" The words obviously were struggling to come out, but his voice was definitely one of anger, not fear.

The man licked his lips before replying, "We're about to have a small puppet , it's been so long since my last one. But I'll make sure this is the best one, yet! You all look so perfect for your roles, I know it'll be perfect!" There was a ringing joy in his voice that shot straight into their bones, chilling them instantly.

"That's ok, we need to be on our way. Thanks for offering though," Yuan forced out a friendly laugh at the end. When the man let out a small chuckle in response, Yuan began to struggle. His muscles all began to swell, and his various body parts began to shake. The man seemed unaffected by this, moving his index finger slightly. Suddenly Kunchen's fist came crashing across Yuan's face, with the Avatar letting out a loud grunt. The helpless airbender, with a look of pure horror, continued to pummel Yuan, who was forced to remain on his feet.

"Enough!" finally screamed Nerrivik. "We'll be part of your show, just please stop." The man acquiesed at this, causing Knuchen to go limp.

"You'll make a perfect Joo in my play," the man said with glee. He reached behind himself and drew three pieces of paper, which he proceeded to hand out to his reluctant marionettes. "I'll give you a few moments to look your parts over in the corner. You, my sweet, will play our lovely, but deceitful Joo. Our little bruiser over there will get to play our plucky hero Sung." His smirk disappeared as he finally turned to Yuan. "You'll definitely fit as the villain, the brutish idiot Zhan. I'll give you a few moments to learn your lines in the corner. After that, it's costumes and show time!" He flicked his hand, and all three of them flew towards the corner, where they were held paralyzed looking at their papers. They were right next to a second room, where an ungodly stench began to waft their way. All three of them tried to put it out of their mind what that smell was.

They each spent a few minutes reading their hackneyed, cliched scripts. " 'I've come to steal your girl, because I know she want's someone with muscles, not someone who smells.' Eugh, I can barely write and even I know this is horrible," Yuan vocalized. His faces was bruised and swelling, but at least his sense of humor was intact, thought Nerrivik.

"Yeah, I don't think this guy gets much constructive criticism," spoke a shaken Kunchen. "What are we going to do? This guy obviously isn't right in the head, and I don't want to see what happens after we finish."

"This is bloodbending," interjected Nerrivik. "It's a really powerful form of waterbending. He's in full control of our bodies." She saw Kunchen's eyes sink to the ground at this. She hadn't meant for it to sound so hopeless, but at this point it was looking like just that.

"Is there anything you can do, Nerrivik?" asked Yuan. He still stubbornly refused to show fear, but it was becoming clear how bad their situation was.

"I'm sorry, but I've never dealt with anything like this before. I have no idea what to do," Nerrivik admitted in defeat. She hated this feeling. The helplessness, the fear of what's to come, the inability to move her body even slightly. She couldn't do anything, and just had to wait silently for her fate. Her mind began a downward spiral of pathetic and desperate thoughts. "I've traveled half the world, just to die in a basement. If I hadn't left, if I hadn't been an impulsive idiot, if I had just listened, like a good girl. This is what I get for thinking I knew best."

"You're the only one that can do anything," said Yuan, crashing her pity party. "I can't waterbend for crap, and Kunchen's only good at picking locks. I've got all my faith in you, not just because you're our only option, but because I know you can do it."

Kunchen looked up, "He's right. We need you, Nerrivik. I know you'll think of something."

For once, Nerrivik was glad she couldn't shed any tears. She'd never heard encouragement like this her entire life. She'd never really had friends like this her entire life. Quickly getting a hold of herself, she shot them both a determined look, "Ok, I'll figure something out."

Soon the three were dragged back to the center of the basement, where their director and audience awaited. He made several quick motions, and the trio found themselves putting on costumes. Kunchen got an admittedly cool leather jacket, Nerrivik wore and extremely tight skirt, over her ordinary clothes, and Yuan was stuck with a large pointed paper hat.

"You all look perfect," admired their captor, clapping one of his hands over his mouth. "Well I guess this is it. I'm really looking forward to your performance." He dragged them into position, with Nerrivik at the center and the two boys off to the side.

After a brief stunned moment, Nerrivik remembered her lines, "Oh …. Oh my! I could sure use a big strong man to help me carry this box." she lifted her voice up an octave to fit the part. Her arms moved to imitate her struggling with a heavy box.

Suddenly, Kunchen slid into place, with his lips being contorted into a twisted smile. "Why hello there, my fair lady." His hand made a tipping motion with an invisible hat. "I couldn't help but notice you needing help with your load. I would love to help you."

"Why, you're such a nice guy ... and very handsome too." Nerrivik was struggling to remember her lines, and concentrate on the bloodbending at the same time. She was trying to figure out how it worked, by concentrating on the way her body was dragged about.

Suddenly Yuan burst in from the side and proceeded to push over Kunchen, "Hey baby, I saw this wimp trying to help you, and figured you might want a real man to help you." To Yuan's credit, he was hamming up his role pretty admirably. Nerriviks body fell into a swoon, and that's when she felt it for the first time. It was only for an instant, but she sensed a stream of water inside her arm move, like she might feel a river. It was distorted by her skin and cells, but she had felt the motion.

As the play continued, she began to get a better feel for it. The way the man was moving the fluids within her, causing her body to move. The more she did it, the better she got, and it soon felt like any other water she had felt. She'd felt the power of a full moon before, but had never thought it would have this great of an effect.

The play unfolded over about half an hour, continuing much the same way the opening scene had gone, with Kunchen trying to woo Nerrivik, before Yuan would burst in and ruin everything. There were a few other scenes thrown in for flavor, like Kunchen soliloquising about how girls only want jerks, and a few scenes of Yuan being mean to Nerrivik to drive the point home. The script failed to improve from the first scene, but soon transitioned from it's laughably bad beginning into a more terrifying and sinister end. Scenes of hijinks soon turned into melodramatic declarations of unending hatred. By the time Nerrivik felt comfortable with sensing the bloodbending, they were at the end of the play.

Yuan and Kunchen were shoving each other back in forth, until Yuan fell onto his back. "See Joo, he doesn't care about you," said a clearly freaked out Kunchen. "I've only ever tried to be a nice guy, but you keep on turning me away. Why do you hate me?"

"Because I love Zhan. I only ever pretended to like you, because we thought it was a funny joke, ha ha," she gave the least passionate laugh possible. She was so completely concentrated on the motion of the fluid in her body, that she failed to notice Kunchen's arm darting to the ground, and grabbing a large butchers knife. He looked at the knife with his eyes bulging in terror.

"Nerrivik …" he uttered, but his head was soon snapped back, and his face contorted in pain.

"Stick to the script!" screamed their puppeteer. He moved a finger, and Kunchen raised the knife overhead. Nerrivik looked on in horror as this happened, her body and the water inside completely forgotten. "Now say your lines!" commanded the man.

"No..." protested Kunchen, who soon began to scream as his body was elevated off the ground. He was violently slammed back down, where he rose again with the knife overhead.

"Say your line!" screamed the man. Kunchen continued to protest, and soon found himself being flung about the room. Nerrivik was initially transfixed, but soon took advantage of this opportunity. Summoning all of her concentration, she focused on the water within her body, and grabbed at it, as she might with a puddle. She gave a violent shudder, but soon exhaled and released the tension within her body. Her finger flickered a little, and the feeling of freedom overwhelmed her, as finally a tear of joy streamed down her cheek.

She was brought back down to earth, as Kunchen came crashing down in front of her. "Fine!" screamed the puppeteer, "If you won't do your job, I'll just do it myself." He raised the knife in Kunchen's hand, and brought it down in an arc at Nerrivik. Reacting quick, she rolled to the side, shocking everyone in the room.

The man didn't let the confusion slow him down, as he slid Yuan's foot at Nerrivik's legs to catch her off balance. She gracefully stepped back to avoid this, but soon found herself dodging a series of blows and slashes from her two marionette friends. Finally a punch from Yuan caught her in the shoulder, and knocked her sideways. Her head also snapped back, and she caught a glimpse of the pipes running along the ceiling. She reached up, grabbing the water inside and causing the pipe to burst. Water began spilling all over the room, as Nerrivik grabbed a thin whip from the pipe, which she swung forward into Kunchen and Yuan's torsos. She picked up a second stream, froze it into a spike, and sent it flying at the puppet masters head. He scrambled to avoid it, and quickly began to flee up the stairs, dragging the limp Kunchen and Yuan behind him.

Nerrivik gave pursuit atop a small wave of water. She followed him up the steps, through his sparsely furnished home, and out into a deserted street. Using the water to launch herself into the air, she swung a tentacle of water surrounding her arm in an arc, and brought it down, at the puppeteer. The man moved his hands quickly and used Kunchen as a human shield to take the hit, which knocked the airbender to the side of the street. Grabbing the knife from the ground the man brought Yuan into a tight hold, placing the blade against the Avatar's neck.

"If you move, I'll cut him wide open," he threatened. Nerrivik froze in place on the ground. Her mind raced trying to find a way to save her friend. This stand off lasted for several moments, until a final sickening thought entered her mind. Reaching out beyond herself, she felt for the fluids in the man and Yuan's bodies. With some struggling she found the man's arm holding the knife. With a deep breath she grabbed a hold of it. In two lighting fast motions, she violently swung the arm to the side, flinging knife away, before she moved again, and launched a stream of water into the mans face, knocking him off his feet.

Yuan staggered away, as Nerrivik gathered water around the man's unconscious body and froze him to the ground. Yuan stared at her in awe, "Holy crap, that was incredible, Nerrivik! I can't believe you did that!"

"Do what?" she asked in a flat and angry voice, not making eye contact.

"The way you moved his arm." answered a somewhat puzzled Yuan.

She flashed him an angry look, before regaining her composure and settling on a serious expression. "I didn't do anything, the guy's hand just spasmed." She'd felt sick just reaching out and feeling their bodies. Actually controlling another person's body was too much. She couldn't even describe the feeling, but everything about it screamed wrong.

Yuan was quiet for a moment before speaking, "I understand. Are you alright?" She gave a small nod, quickly followed by a shudder. Yuan placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. You did … or didn't do, what you had to. Seriously, thank you."

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you for the pep talk back there. I really needed it. Please don't mention what happened to Kunchen, though.Idon't even want to think about it." He quickly zipped his lips shut. She looked at their former captor on the ground again, "So what are we going to do?"

Yuan thought for a moment, "Well I don't really want to stick around for the cops because, you know, highly wanted terrorist and all that. How about I seal him up using some earth, and we leave a message or something for the police."

"What would we write though?"

"Probably to check out that second room in the basement." They were both silent for a moment, trying desperately not to think about what was behind that door.

"Ok," Nerrivik responded. "I'll grab Kunchen and write the note. You go find the jeep, it's a pretty small town it shouldn't be hard to do." Yuan nodded in response. Before leaving, he dragged a blanket of earth over the puppeteer, making sure he was completely secure.

By the time Yuan returned with the car, Kunchen had woken up and Nerrivik had brought him up to speed on their situation. They quickly loaded into the jeep, making sure their note was plain to see on top of the puppeteer. The trio left the city just as the sun began to rise and Kunchen estimated that they were only a day or two away from Republic City. Nerrivik found it hard to muster any enthusiasm, however. She sat in the backseat and found herself continually opening and closing her hand, lost in thought. A few hours of this passed, she finally smiled to herself. The dread of bloodbending was still there, but she instead took control and decided to focus on the positive. She remembered Yuan's kind words of encouragement and how Kunchen resisted the man and tried to save her. For the first time since she'd left the North Pole, she wasn't just excited about where she was going, she was happy for the people she was with.

**********

**Coming Soon: Chapter 7 "The Belly of the Beast"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Like always, leave feedback if you've got any. I'm pretty close to catching up with everything I've written so far so when I hit chapter 10 or so, my posting will slow down considerably.


	7. Belly of The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yuad finally arrives in Republic City.

Yuan woke at the crack of dawn, the first time he had done so without a roostercrow. He couldn't help; today was the big day. After nonstop drive from their last adventure they had arrived in a small town, only a few miles outside of Republic City. They'd crossed into the Republics proper borders the night before, but the border guards had all been moved to the outer reaches of their controlled territories, so there was no real process to get into the city. That would not be the case with the city itself.

During the earlier years of The United Republics intervention in The Earth States, terrorist attacks had been prevalent in Republic City, with casualties in the hundreds. The city reacted with a major security overhaul, instituting increasingly draconian policies, to catch any would be terrorists before they even came close to the city. And in about an hour, it would be Yuan's turn to test the system.

He felt an odd serenity pass over him as he awoke this morning, which was a welcome change from his stomach doing backflips every time they went over a bump. He supposed he'd just come to accept that this was going to happen. Ironically, the best luck he'd had recently was Kunchen beating the tar out of him in the basement. His face was still fairly bruised and swollen, making it even harder to recognize him from his wanted poster. Or it would just make them scrutinize him harder, and then they would definitely recognize him. 50-50 really. He shook the thoughts out of his mind. If he just remained calm, he would get through this. " _I've just got to keep it together for another few hours, and I'm in the clear. We'll be at the White Lotus Temple by tonight,_ " he reassured himself.

Kunchen and Nerrivik woke up shortly after him. They'd been holding up surprisingly well since their night in the basement. Nerrivik had calmed down considerably since that night, with neither her nor Yuan breathing a word about how they knocked their captor out to Kunchen. The airbender had been doing way better than Yuan had expected, but he couldn't tell if this was because he was genuinely nonplused by it or if he'd finally been pushed past his breaking point and had stopped caring altogether. Either way, Yuan was glad he was so calm, because they'd need him and his Beifong credentials to enter the city.

After a quick breakfast the three hit the road, and in half an hour they were upon the city. The first thing they saw beyond the surrounding mountains, was the beam of yellow light reaching towards the sky that was the Republic Spirit Portal. As they closed in on the city, they saw skyscrapers beginning to peak over the hills and trees. It wasn't until they were right at the gates that they noticed the massive 20 foot concrete wall that surrounded the city. They pulled the jeep up to a small gate, similar to the one they had seen when entering United Republic territory. They joined a huge line of traffic as they were slowly examined and passed through the gates. After about an hour of tense waiting, it was there turn at the front.

An angry looking older man in United Republic military attire approached the car, "Do you three have any papers?" he asked, in a flat and serious tone.

Kunchen pulled a small booklet out of the glove compartment of the jeep. "Here's my international pass. It's a gold level diplomatic pass, so it should include my two guests."

"Maybe a few years ago. Regulations have tightened. We'll have to conduct interviews for both the entrants, and grant them temporary week long passes. While we're doing that for them, we'll also have to inspect your vehicle for contraband." The man ushered Yuan and Nerrivik into two side offices, similar to the ones they had previously been through.

"Just relax," Yuan told himself. "I've just got to play it cool like last time, and it'll be alright." He sat down across from another man, this one slightly younger, but equally angry looking.

"Wow," Yuan said, putting on his fakest friendliest smile. "I just did one of these a week ago when I crossed into the territories. You guys sure do take your security seriously."

The man responded with an annoyed look and a small grunt, before he began to grill Yuan, with the same set of questions he'd been asked before. Yuan parroted his fake credentials, but ran into trouble when the questions branched off to talk about his history.

"So you said you were from Omashu?" the man asked.

"Uh, yeah," Yuan confirmed in a puzzled voice.

"Well there's been a lot of terrorist activity in that area for the past several years now..." continued the man.

"I'm well aware," replied Yuan, starting to get a little annoyed.

"My point being, are you at all involved with these acts, or have you ever been affected by them?" The man was matching Yuan's annoyance with his own.

"No, I haven't been a part of any terrorist activities. I've seen my fair share of bombings, but everyone in the city has," Yuan crossed his arms.

The man let out a small sigh and stared straight at him, now clearly angry. "Look I've seen this thousands of times before, so just come out and say it; you're a refugee, right?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me. You people do this all the time. Clayeaters that try to skip …"

"Clayeater?" Yuan was completely indignant at this point.

"Yes, clayeaters. People like you that try to game the system, get a week long pass, and then stay in the city and live off of welfare." Most people tried to hide their racism and use euphemisms, but this guy was going right for it.

Yuan's trepidations about being recognized were completely forgotten, replaced by a searing rage. "I'm so sorry. The United Republic did such a great job of stabilizing Omashu, I guess I should be a little more grateful for all you do for us." Phen would have been proud.

The man smiled at this, "So I guess I'm right, you are just like the rest." He pressed a small button on the underside of his desk, and suddenly two soldiers burst into the office, and grabbed Yuan.

The Avatar began to struggle until one of the soldiers calmly spoke, "Please remain calm sir. We're transferring you to a secure detention facility. You'll stay there until we have completely assessed your security risk." Memories of his wanted poster came flooding back and Yuan immediately stopped resisting.

They lead him down a short hallway and deposited him in a completely empty room, sans one bench on the back wall. There was a large mirror on the opposite side of the room, that was almost definitely a one way window. This was the room he spent the next 4 hours in, alternating between sitting and pacing back in forth. All the while, paranoid thoughts raced in his head. " _They definitely have to know by now. What are they waiting for? Do they have something planned for me? Do they know I'm the Avatar? What about Kunchen and Nerrivik, what are they doing with them?_ "

This continued until the door opened again, this time it was the original soldier from the gate walking in. "My deepest apologies for what has happened sir. My subordinates acted rashly and I can assure you they will be strictly punished." Yuan raised a his eyebrow slightly, but was quickly ushered out of the room and back outside. There he saw Kunchen and Nerrivik waiting by the jeep. The two ran up to him, and embraced him in a large group hug. Kunchen made a quick glance at the lead soldier, before the group walked back to the jeep.

"I thought they recognized me, why are they releasing me?" Yuan asked as they settled back into the vehicle.

"They threw you in there because they thought you were a refugee trying to sneak in and skip the queue." said Nerrivik.

"Oh," said Yuan, "That's better than what I thought, I guess." On the one hand he was glad they didn't know he was the Avatar, but the idea that they arrested him just because he was poorer citizen of the Earth Kingdom didn't sit right with him.

Nerrivik continued , "Kunchen raised a huge storm about it, and made his case to one of the higher ups. The began apologizing immediately once he showed he was a Beifong, and went to release you."

Yuan gave Kunchen a genuinely touched look. "Kunchen, I can't even begin to thank you. If they had kept me there too long, well..."

The airbender brushed it aside with a smile. "It was nothing. Now come on, the days half over already. Let's get ourselves to Air Temple Island and the White Lotus Temple." Yuan and Nerrivik gave a small cheer as they sped off in the direction of the waterfront.

It took them almost an hour to reach the docks where they hoped to find a ferry. Yuan had relaxed greatly since his release and decided to enjoy the drive, even participating with Nerrivik and Kunchen as they pointed out famous landmarks within the city. Their entire drive could have served as a decent travelogue for the city.

"Hey look, it's Avatar Korra Park. We definitely have to spend a day there and checkout the statue."

"Oh I've heard of this place. It's the new presidential manor that they built after the Battle of Republic City."

"Holy crap, look at how big Varrick Towers is!"

Kunchen and Nerrivik were clearly in heaven seeing all the sights, and their good vibes were rubbing off. Yuan was actually interested to see some of these sights himself. The new train system that had been installed in the city was particularly impressive to him, as it weaved both in and out of the ground, long bridges and tunnels. Sadly, one place he had been particularly interested in visiting looked to be closed off.

The Spirit Wilds that had sprouted up in the city after Harmonic Convergence had only grown larger and larger with the opening of the new spirit portal. It completely dominated the former downtown, and was under heavy guard from United Republic Forces. Kunchen explained that there had been a lot of problems with people crossing over to the spirit world and disrupting things, so the guards and fences had been put in place to stop people from going in. There didn't seem like there could be anything done about spirits coming out, however. Yuan had seen a few spirits before, mostly small ones that wandered into Urumqi and immediately wandered out. He'd never seen anything on the scale of Republic City though, where spirits were on every street corner, floated by overhead, and even perched themselves on top of moving cars. He wasn't the only one captivated, even Kunchen and Nerrivik, who'd both been to places with heavy spiritual presence, gave pause at just the volume of spirits around them.

All of this took a backseat, however, when they reached the docks of the city, and found a ferry service. They parked the car, and Yuan approached the ticket booth. "Hi there, I was wondering, do any of your ferry's happen to go to Air Temple Island?"

The young woman working the booth gave a small laugh at this, "Yeah sure. What are you doing when you get there? I mean besides getting arrested."

Yuan shot her a puzzled look. "We were hoping to visit the White Lotus Temple on the island. Why? Is something up?"

"Ummm yeah. Namely there hasn't been a temple on the island in like a decade. The government seized it, and there's a travel ban on it now," the woman explained.

"Yeah …. ok. Thank you." Yuan hung his head and slunk back to the jeep. This should have felt like a kick in the teeth after all they had been through to get here, but the anger just wasn't coming to him. Instead it was just this horrible wave of sadness and defeat. "Hey guy's this ones closed down too." Nerrivik and Kunchen both gave saddened and dejected looks, as Yuan sunk into the back seat.

"I'm so sorry Yuan," Nerrivik placed a hand on his shoulder. "We knew this was a long shot, but …"

"It's ok," the Avatar looked up and gave a weak smile. "I'm sure we'll think of something. It's not the end of the world."

Kunchen had been keeping his head down through this conversation, suddenly looked up. "Why don't we find a place to stay for the night. We'll get ourselves sorted there."

"That sounds like a good idea," replied a shockingly positive Yuan.

They managed to find a cheap hotel relatively quickly. After a small argument between Yuan and Kunchen about sleeping arrangements, they decided on a two bed room, with a small bathroom to the side. They took an elevator, another new invention that Yuan marveled at, to the 8th floor and entered their room. All three collapsed on their beds, and opened up their sacks to eat what remained of their food. In the middle of their makeshift dinner, the three looked up and noticed what was positioned at the front of their room. It was a small metal box, with what looked like a blacked out window facing them.

"What's that thing?" asked a curious Yuan. "Is this one of those things that everyone knows about, except me?"

"No actually, I've got no idea what this thing is," replied Nerrivik.

Kunchen turned his head a little as he stared at it, when suddenly a flash of understanding crossed his face. "Wait, I've actually heard of these things before. They're called Telescreens. They were made by Varrick Inc. They're supposed to be able to receive radio signals and play movers and stuff on the screen. They only have them in Republic City because that's as far as they can broadcast."

Yuan and Nerrivik both looked at him with shocked looks on their face. "Wait there's actually something like this that's been invented?" asked an incredulous Nerrivik.

"Oh yeah, just watch." Kunchen got up and flipped a switch at the front of the box, and suddenly a moving black and white image flashed on the screen and sound began to come out. Everyones jaws went slack as they slowly watched the screen. It was playing an old mover about an underdog pro-bending team that ended up winning the championships. Kunchen got up and turned a dial and suddenly they were watching an older man behind a desk slowly explain the news of the day. More specifically about United Republic Forces in The Earth States.

Kunchen was about to turn the dial again when Yuan spoke up, "Wait a minute, I want to see this." The airbender dropped his hand down and sat back down on the side of the bed. Soon everyone was as focused on the screen as Yuan was.

"... the damage was mostly held to those blocks, although further threats of violence have been issued in the area. There has also been a rise in violence in the south-eastern portion of The Former Earth Kingdom. There has been a series of skirmishes within the region between The Rising Earth terrorist organization and the United Republic Forces. There has been no confirmed death toll, however, the studio has received a list of areas affected, including the villages of Turpan, Kashgar, Hotan, and Urm-key. We have been unable to get any further …"

Yuan walked up to the telescreen and shut it off. He stood there for a moment, looking down with one hand on the screen. Kunchen spoke up, "Yuan are you alright?"

"It's pronounced Urumqi."

"What?"

"I said it's pronounced URUMQI!" the Avatar roared back at his two companions. The anger that had failed to manifest earlier today was consuming every part of him now. "But they don't care about that. Nobody in this city cares anything about what's happening in The Earth States! No, we're just a bunch of dirt-pounding, clayeating, terrorists trying to leech off of the oh so generous Republic!"

"Yuan I know it's been a rough day, but you really need to calm …" Nerrivik began to protest.

"I don't need to do anything! I'm just some fugitive stuck in a city that hates him, while his family and friends are dying half a continent away!"

"You're the Avatar."

"Am I? I honestly forget sometimes. I can only bend one element with any skill, I've never been told what my duties are, and clearly I suck at defending people. I ran from home, left everyone behind to suffer and die, and for what? To get told I'm too late twice?" Yuans voice was getting as desperate as it was angry.

It was Kunchen who spoke up this time, "We'll think of something."

"Think of what? There's no White Lotus left to train me, and clearly no where else in the world wants me. I can't even go home! What am I supposed to do, because honestly I don't know!"

The three sat in silence for a few moments after this. Yuan was breathing heavy from all of the shouting he'd been doing, while Kunchen and Nerrivik averted their eyes, trying to think of something to say. Finally it was Kunchen that looked up with a grin and the twinkle of an idea in his eyes.

"Yuan, I don't know what we're going to do tomorrow, but I actually know something we can do right now. Come on," he gestured to follow as he walked to the far side of the room, and opened a sliding door to a small balcony. All three of them stepped out on to the balcony, and marveled at the view for a moment. From the 8th story they actually got an stunning view of the surrounding city blocks, currently bathed in the bright lights and spiritual glow of night time Republic City. They saw car's speed by on the street, while spirits lazily floated along in the sky. Hundreds of people passed each other on the street, each set about on their own paths. The trio took a beat to marvel at the urban vista, before Kunchen assumed a crosslegged position on the floor.

"What are you doing?" asked Yuan.

"We're going to meditate. You said you don't know what the Avatar is supposed to do. Well my grandpa, if you can imagine, loves telling stories about the Avatar Korra, so I actually have a pretty good idea of what some of you're duties should be. And one of the things he always mentioned was that Korra would meditate in times of crisis and they didn't know what to do. So that's what we're going to do right now," the airbender explained.

"I've never meditated before," said a doubtful Yuan.

"Well no time like the present. You said it yourself, it's not like we have any other ideas." Kunchen was standing, well sitting, firm on the issue.

With a small sigh Yuan assumed the crosslegged position, shortly followed by Nerrivik. Kunchen cleared his throat, "Ok, we're gonna start by closing our eyes, and doing some breathing. I'll tell you when to breathe in and out so we can get a rhythm going. Alright in ….. and out … in ….. and out ….."

Yuan and Nerrivik followed his instructions and began following his inhale and exhale commands. Soon Kunchen dropped the commands entirely and it was just the three breathing silently in unison. Yuan focused hard on the breathing, but the roar of the city below them kept interrupting his train of thought. "I can't focus at all, the city is way too loud," he complained.

"No the noise is good," Kunchen assured. "Focus on it. Listen to it's hum and rhythm. Soon it will be no different than an insect beating it's wings, or the rhythm of your own heart."

Yuan took the advice, and began to focus entirely on the ambient noises around him. He heard the sharp revving of engines as the traffic light turned green. He heard the thousands of people chattering on the street level and even though none of it was distinct to him, he felt like he began to hear the flow to some conversations. In fact he began to hear the flow of all the noises as they slowly blended together into one perfectly distinct droning noise. It was unlike anything Yuan had heard before in his life, but it had this oddly calming effect on him. The way it's tempo moved, how the volume rose and faded, Yuan was completely transfixed.

Minutes passed in the real world, but they felt like only seconds to the Avatar. He was hypnotized by the droning. Actually, as time passed, it began to sound less and less like droning. The sound was morphing into something different, an almost popping noise. No, crackling, definitely crackling. This new sound soon overtook the previous droning, and as it came into focus Yuan recognized it as that of a roaring fire.

It wasn't just the noise that was changing, Yuan felt the environment around him change. The temperate air of Republic City was being replaced. At his front he felt a chill, one powerful enough to cut through his clothes and strike him deep in his bones. Behind him, however, a burning breeze brushed against his back, enough to cause a small sweat to break out. It wasn't just the air feeling different, but his clothes too, with his sleeves or his boots feeling as though they'd vanished.

The curiosity was soon too much to bear, and Yuan opened his eyes. Sure enough he was dressed in nothing, but a blue tank top and some light gray pants. He looked around to try and take in his surroundings. He was in a small room, with pure white walls that he soon recognized as ice. Behind him was a small fire that he had heard and felt before. He sat up to get a better look around, but his elevation barely changed as he did was barely two feet tall. Now that he looked at it, his skin tone was a bit darker then he remembered it being.

All this observation soon took a backseat as he heard voices begin to talk in the room behind the wall. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but one of them sounded like an older man, while the other was a younger woman. It didn't sound right, but Yuan soon heard his name being called. Acting on instinct, as if he wasn't even in control of his body, his fist shot forward and blasted a large hole through the ice wall.

"I'm the Avatar, you gotta deal with it!" a small child yelled. It took him a moment to realize that he was the small child yelling, but by then he had launched into an elaborate demonstration of earth, fire, and water bending. Three adults in purple robes backed up as Yuan chased them around the room with his bending.

After a little while Yuan began to calm down, and one of the adults approached him, "This is really impressive Avatar, but it's time to wake up now."

"What?" asked Yuan, but it was no longer the child's voice, it was his own.

"I said wake up!"

The Avatar's eyes shot open and he found himself again sitting on the balcony over Republic City. Above him stood a concerned looking Nerrivik and a grinning Kunchen. "You were out for like an hour! I didn't think meditation would be that effective."

"I've been here for an hour?" Yuan was skeptical of this, but the stiffness in his knees as he began to stand up seemed to confirm this.

"Yeah, what was happening with you?" asked a still concerned Nerrivik.

"I don't know. One minute I was listening to traffic, the next you two were shaking me awake. I think I fell asleep because it felt like I was dreaming." Truth be told he wasn't sure if it wasn't like any dream he'd had before, but it was the closest experience he could think of.

Kunchen gave a slightly disappointed look at this. "Oh. Well it's not uncommon for people to fall asleep when they meditate, plenty of the monks at the air temple do it. I've even done it a few times. I actually dreamed I was the Avatar once. What were you dreaming of?"

"No clue. It kind of rushed by, but I think I was a little kid or something," Yuan was thinking hard about it, but the details were beginning to escape him.

"Eh it's no big deal. We can try again in the morning." The airbender opened the door to their room again.

"Actually if it's alright with you two, I want to take an extra minute out here," requested Yuan. "Just so I can stretch out a little."

Kunchen was already in the room, but Nerrivik was still there to respond. "Sure thing. Just don't stay out too late." She shot him a small smile.

"No problem," he responded with his own grin. Nerrivik stepped through the door, closing both it and the blinds to give him some privacy. Yuan turned his attention back to the city, and found himself pondering his dream. " _That was way more intense than any dream I've ever had before. I think I was the Avatar there too. Why was I a kid though? Was that still a dream, or are Avatar's supposed to get visions or something? I don't know I guess I'll think about it more in the…_ "

His thought was interrupted by a small prick on the back of neck. His hand instinctively slapped at the pain, and he plucked out a small needle. " _What's this thing? Where did it come from? Why am I so calm, and why are my eyelids so …_ " Yuan was again interrupted mid-thought, this time by himself slouching over and falling asleep. A long metal wire was fed from above and wrapped itself around the Avatar. Once he was sufficiently wrapped, his unconscious body was dragged from the balcony, onto the roof of the hotel, and off into the night.

**Coming Soon: Chapter 8 - Darkness Down Below**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like always, thanks for reading. If you have any feedback, please leave some, it's always appreciated.


	8. Darkness Down Below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kunchen and Nerrivik learn that their friend has gone missing. A captured Yuan is shown what secrets the United Republic is really hiding.

"So, you were the Avatar, but for some reason you couldn't bend any elements?" asked Nerrivik

"I know right, imagine how freaked out I was," drolled Kunchen. The two shared a small chuckle at this. "It was a weird dream, ok. But meditating for hours makes you doze off sometimes."

"I can see. It was actually a good call, I feel pretty relaxed now, and Yuan doesn't look like he wants to kill everything in sight now." Nerrivik cracked her neck a little bit.

Kunchen beamed a little at this. "Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I actually remember a few stories my grandpa told me, and without The White Lotus that might be all we have to go off of. One thing that I remember pretty clearly is that the Avatar needs to learn the elements in a specific order, the same as their reincarnation cycle. So maybe we should try looking for a firebending teacher for him."

Nerrivik chewed on the idea for a moment. "That could actually work. It depends on if Yuan is willing to risk working with someone. He's gotten a little paranoid recently."

"Yeah I've noticed. Why don't we ask him, he's been outside for like 15 minutes now." The airbender hopped off the bed, and moved towards the door. He slid back the blinds and froze in place as he saw the empty balcony. Nerrivik moved to get a better view, and had the same reaction upon seeing nothing where there should have been an Avatar.

Kunchen threw open the door, raced to the railing, and began frantically looking over the edge. Nerrivik was only a few seconds behind and joined in his futile search for their lost friend on the ground.

"YUAN!"

**********

Yuan felt fear like he'd never felt before. His breath caught short as he heard the door to the room swing open. He'd been fleeing these footsteps just a moment before, and had found himself a hiding spot underneath a table, with a cloth dangling over it's side. He couldn't remember what he'd been running from or why, but he had this primal fear of it, something he couldn't explain.

Slowly footsteps echoed in front of him as he held his breath, refusing to give himself away. He peeked underneath the cloth and saw that the feet had stopped in front of him. His heart froze in place as he waited for their next move. To his relief the person continued forward, seemingly taking no notice of him. His ponytail lightly smacked against his back as he let out a large exhale, and Yuan took a second to wonder when his hair had grown out.

This brief respite was cut short, as he felt his body suddenly seize and constrict. He was dragged from underneath the table, even with nothing touching him. His mind flashed back to the basement several days ago, as this all too familiar sensation of forced motion coursed through his body.

As he was lifted into the air, he saw another man emerge from around a corner and begin shooting fireballs at Yuan's attacker. The attacker gracefully dodged these attacks, and seized the firebender the same way he had the Avatar. Yuan caught a clear view of the bloodbender and saw the man had a cowl pulled over his head, with a red and white mask hiding his face. This figure moved his arm, and brought Yuan down in front of him. The Avatar struggled fiercely, but it made no difference as his head was forcefully snapped backwards. Terrified beyond rational thought he was forced to stare into the masked man's eyes and could feel a cold smirk from underneath his mask. The attacker placed a thumb on Yuan's forehead and he could feel a new force tear through him, as if it was destroying his body on a spiritual level.

Yuan awoke with a start to an environment that did little to console him after his nightmare. His motion was just as restricted as it had been in the dream, only this time not by bending but by metal bands strapped around his head, arms, and legs. These bands were firmly attached to a steel wall that Yuan was tightly pressed against in a spread eagle position. He struggled for a moment trying to break the bands or to bend anything, but found both efforts pointless.

Opting instead for a more observant approach, he began to survey the room in front of him. It was a decent size, yet dimly lit room with no windows and only two doors. There were cabinets and shelves all over the room and a small table on the opposite side from Yuan. Hanging from the walls were various pieces of metal weaponry, all polished and in fine repair. Suddenly a dark green lump sitting in the corner of the room lurched forward, and Yuan realized he wasn't alone in the room.

"Hey, you there. Who are you? Where am I?" he asked, his voice wheezing from dehydration.

The figured turned to look at him, although it was difficult to make out his features, "You're awake? That's good, I was wondering how long you'd be out for." The figure grabbed a cup from the table and dunked it into a bucket. He slowly sauntered over to Yuan, who now got a good look at him. He cut a tall imposing form, clothed in a dark green coat over what looked like steel armor. His torso was covered in a steel plate, while it looked like he had large pads covering his shoulders. His face was hidden by a metal mask, that completely covered the lower half of his face, coming to a point at the bridge of his nose. Green eyes beamed from above the mask, and his hair fell shoulder length behind him. He lifted the cup to Yuan's lips, who sniffed it quickly before drinking it. The water soothed his throat, and after enjoying the sensation for a moment he looked again at the man.

The mask on his face split down the center, and drew back to the side of his face, revealing his lightly bearded face. "Drink up, I need you in good shape."

"Good shape?" asked the Avatar, "What do you mean? Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" said the man in a flat tone in a tone bordering on insulted.

"Well I don't exactly …" Yuan paused mid-sentence. His mind had been pretty hazy since he woke up, but he was beginning to come more and more to his senses, when a sudden realization dawned on him. "You're The Iron Scorpion."

"There we go," the Scorpion smirked, "I was beginning to worry I'd damaged your brain with the poison."

The words stuck in Yuan's mind for a moment, before he remembered the balcony and what had happened. Anger shot through him and he resumed his struggles against the metal bands, much to the Scorpions amusement. "Well it's good to see your mind and body are both unharmed."

"Let me go right now, or it's not going to be my body and mind you need to worry about!" shouted a newly invigorated Yuan, as his muscles strained against his bondage.

"You're not really in a position to be threatening anyone, Avatar," spoke the Scorpion his voice taking a sinister tone.

Yuan froze at these words. "How do you know that?" he asked, his voice still dripping with resentment.

"You think I'd just kidnap a random wanted earthbender?" asked the terrorist, and Yuan silently chided himself for not realizing this faster. "I mean, it's only convenient that we already know each other."

"Oh, I know you. You're the violent, sadistic monster that's been terrorizing the Earth States and United Republic for the past three years. If there's ever a mysterious poisoning, or brutalized governor you're always the name I hear."

The Iron Scorpion nodded along as Yuan listed his previous exploits. "My reputation precedes me. Now why do you think I might have captured you?"

Yuan gave as much of a shrug as he could manage. "I don't know, probably to torture and kill me, before dumping me in a ditch somewhere."

"Come on, you're not even trying," said the Scorpion after a small snort. "If I wanted to kill I could have at the hotel. It's not like you have any information to give me. Guess again."

Yuan paused for a moment. "Why are you having me guess? What does that accomplish?"

The Scorpion gave his fingers a snap and pointed at the Avatar. "Very good. I'm asking to make sure that being that Avatar isn't the only thing you have going for you. Some critical thinking skills to match the power can go a long way."

"What are you getting at? Why are you testing me? Come to think of it, you never even answered my first question, how did you find out who I am?" Yuan was too frantic to feel patronized by his captor.

"I've been following you since Urumqi. I arrived a few days after you had fled, and heard from some of the villagers who you were. I found you ostrichhorse tracks, and I've been pursuing you ever since. I managed to catch up at the White Lotus Temple, but when I saw you start towards Republic City, I raced ahead to meet you here."

Yuan gritted his teeth. Everything this guy said just raised more questions. "Why are you following me? How did you even get into the city? What do you want with me?"

The Scorpion gave a little sigh, "I guess you're probably not going to guess at this point. I've got all I need to know anyway. The reason I've been following you is because I need your help."

A beat passed with the two just staring at each other, before Yuan burst into laughter. "Ok that makes things easier. No, I won't help you. Now let me go."

The scorpions mouth twisted into a scowl, "This isn't a request. With your help I can finally end all of the madness happening in The Earth States."

"I'm not helping you," stated Yuan, attempting to look as resolute as he could while strapped to a wall. "but I will put an end to the madness, by putting you in the ground."

"You think I'm the one keeping the problem alive? How were you welcomed into the city? Did they roll out a red carpet, and applaud as you walked by?" The Scorpion was irritated, but keeping his calm.

Yuan looked down and reluctantly answered, "No, they called me a clayeater and threw me in a cell for four hours."

"You're not the first person they've done that to. You're not even the thousandth. The United Republics continued interference with the Earth States and treatment of their citizens, has caused a continuous cycle of violence and hatred," pontificated the Scorpion.

"I've heard this all before," said an annoyed Yuan. "I know what the United Republic does is wrong, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start helping a crazed butcher."

The Scorpion looked away for a moment, as if he were pondering what Yuan had just said. Suddenly he turned and swung his arm up at the Avatar. A needle shot out from his sleeve and nailed Yuan in the neck.

He gritted his teeth and yelled, "What was that? What'd you just do to me?"

"There was a slow acting poison on the tip of that needle. It'll take about a day, but it will kill you. I know how to make an antidote, but you're going to need to come with me."

Yuan panicked as much as his restraints allowed, his mind racing. He'd just said there was no way he would do what The Iron Scorpion said, but it was harder to keep his word when he was poisoned. "Is this real? What does he want me to do? Will he even make an antidote, or is he just manipulating me?"

The terrorist grew tired of Yuan's thrashing, and grabbed at his captives chin to steady his head. "Stop panicking. It's just going to be a small trip. No fighting, no killing."

Desperate and scared, Yuan stared at his captor for a few seconds, before acquiescing. "Fine. I'll follow you, but if you try anything we'll both be dead by tomorrow."

The Scorpion gave a coy smile. "I'd expect nothing less." He drew his hand back, and the straps flew off of Yuan, who managed to land on his hands and knees. After letting the Avatar stretch and crack his joints the Scorpion spoke up, "We'll head out immediately."

"Right now? What time is it?" asked Yuan as he messaged his wrists.

"It should be about dusk right now, perfect for us. You slept all through today," answered the Scorpion as he began to grab supplies off of the walls. Yuan's eyes bulged, remembering Kunchen and Nerrivik for the first time since he'd awoken.

**********

Kunchen lept along the rooftops of Republic City assisted by his airbending. He scanned the ground below looking for desperately for Yuan's familiar messed brown hair, or his short sleeved jacket. He'd swooped down and interrogated a few strangers already today, but nothing had turned up. The search was growing more and more desperate as the day continued, with Kunchen having already canvassed most of the downtown of the city.

After he finished his final block, he heaved a sigh of defeat and decided to check on Nerrivik to see if she had any luck. He swung back back to the hotel, entering through the balcony was sitting on bed, head in her hands watching the news channel from the previous night. "So no luck on your end either?" asked Kunchen tepidly.

"Nothing," her voice was soft and tired. The bags under her eyes were enormous and, if Kunchen wanted to die, he might have guessed that she had been crying. "There's no way we're going to be able to find him. The cities just too big."

Kunchen sat beside her. She was right, there was no possible way they could find him with just the two of them. They'd briefly considered going to the police, but decided Yuan probably wanted to avoid the inside of a jail cell. The two sat in silence for a few minutes while the telescreen droned on about a diplomatic meeting between the two water tribes.

"So we managed to lose the Avatar." Nerrivik's tone was flat and disbelieving.

"Well, I mean, it's not like we lost him. He ran away," Kunchen weakly defended.

"That's not better. That might actually be worse," her voice rose towards the end. "What are we gonna do? Why did he run? How are you so calm?!"

Kunchen didn't look up to respond. "I'm not calm. I've been panicking all morning. I saw someone that I thought was Yuan, and ended up pretty much assaulting a woman with a bad haircut. I made 5 yuan's because I was sitting on the corner shaking and people thought I was a bum." He slammed his head into his palms.

Nerrivik rubbed his back a little, "Sorry, I didn't mean to unload on you like that. We'll think of something. Come on, what would Yuan do in a situation like this?"

"Get really angry, yell at us about how everything's pointless, and stomp around looking for something to break?" Kunchen kindly afford.

This got a grin from Nerrivik, "Don't forget running off and not telling us anything. Why are we looking for him again?" The two shared a small laugh.

"As objectively horrible a friend Yuan has been, he did make a point sometimes. I've been letting things get to me way too much these past few weeks, and I need to relax. We're not going to find him by roaming the streets, and we're not going to think of anything better if we don't get some sleep. We've been up for two days now, we might as well try to get some sleep," Kunchen suggested.

"I can get behind that. We can tackle this in the morning." The two climb into separate bed's and fell asleep immediately. The day and night of searching had taken it's toll on both of them, and both slept well into the morning.

Nerrivik woke first, groggily sitting up in her bed, "Ahhhhh, that was so nice. Did we leave the telescreen on all night?"

Kunchen slowly roused himself from sleep at her questioning, "Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot to turn it off. It's ok Varrick Inc. makes some pretty durable stuff." As he said the words, his face sprang awake with an idea clear in his head. Nerrivik gave him a questioning look to which he responded, "I've got it! I know how we might be able to track down Yuan!"

**********

Hour's earlier, the aforementioned Avatar found himself sitting in a boat with The Iron Scorpion, silently making their way across the bay under the cover of night. The terrorist was metalbending the motor silently, while Yuan sat on the bow looking forward. "I'm flattered, but a romantic boat ride isn't going to win me over," he joked in a deadbeat.

"I'm glad you're comfortable enough to joke," said the Scorpion. "But I thought you'd be more excited to be going to Air Temple Island. It's what you came all this way for isn't it?"

"You know, dropping info like that isn't impressive, it's just creepy that you spied on us that much," Yuan shot back, eliciting a nonchalant shrug from the Scorpion.

They made landfall on a rocky part of the islands coast, both carefully stepping over the edge. After the Scorpion had secured the boat, he lead his captive through the rocks, until they came across a small pile. Here he earth bent one conspicuous boulder to the side, revealing a secret tunnel behind it. He crawled in, before beckoning the Avatar to follow him. After the tunnel was resealed he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and illuminated the passage.

"Where are we going?" asked Yuan, now thoroughly intrigued.

"You'll learn soon enough," the Scorpion cryptically answered. Yuan rolled his eyes, but the Scorpion continued, "From here on out we're going to need to be quiet. This tunnel carries echoes." After receiving a nod in affirmation, he lead down into the depths.

It was a narrow path, with the two frequently forced to their hands and knees to continue through. It also became exceedingly steep at times to the point where they had to use their earthbending to descend. The worst of it was the darkness, however. While the Scorpion seemed to know the tunnel by heart Yuan continued to trip and stumble over what felt like every stone. After about 15 minutes of walking, crawling, and stumbling the Scorpion placed a firm hand on Yuan's chest.

"What is it? Why are we stopping?" Yuan whispered.

"Hold on," was the reply he heard. After a beat, heard the almost inaudible sound of metal shearing slightly, before the Scorpion grabbed his shoulder, forced him into a crouch, and lead him into what he guessed was some kind of metal tunnel. He looked forward and saw a shaft of light appearing around a corner. The two crawled towards it, and when they rounded the corner they saw the grate letting in the light. The Scorpion made a series of small hand gestures and the bolts on the outside of the grate came undone. He grabbed it and pulled it inside the vent. After signaling Yuan to follow him the Scorpion jumped out and landed in a small hallway.

It was dimly lit, but compared to the tunnel they had just exited it might as well had been the surface of the sun. The floor and walls were all concrete with no ornamentation or color, so little was lost in the poor light. There were a series of steel doors along the opposite side of the wall, spread far apart from each other. After placing the grate back in place the Scorpion examined the doors briefly before deciding on the second one to their right. Using further metalbending he opened the locks causing the door to swing open for them. Here they entered a similar hallway, except instead of steel doors blocking the way, there were openings in the wall blocked by metal bars.

The realization of where they were suddenly dawned on Yuan. "Why did you bring me to a prison?"

"This is a secret prison designed by The United Republic to detain terrorism suspects. I figured since you've already witnessed the evils they commit in public, you should also see the ones they commit under the cover of shadow," the Scorpion explained as he sealed the door behind them.

Yuan looked around in discomfort. Some of the prisoners walked to the fronts of their cells and stared in silence at the two in the hallway. "Why aren't they saying anything?" Yuan asken in a more timid voice.

The Scorpion was walking forward, and didn't even bother to turn as he answered. "Making a noise will only annoy the guards, which means a round of beatings for whichever cell block makes the disturbance."

Yuan gulped at the thought of this. "So what, you think making me see this would just make me up and join you."

"Not just this, but him." They stopped in front of a cell towards the end of the block. Yuan peered inside and saw the outline of a man slowly rouse from his cot. The man stood up and slowly sauntered over to the bars. He held on to them, as if to support himself as he gazed at the two men in the hall. Suddenly his eyes bulged with comprehension.

"Yuan?"

The Avatar needed no time to recognize the voice. "Phen?"

The man's face instantly lit up, as Yuan rushed to the cell and embraced the man in a hug. After they released Phen gave him a quick inspection, "It's only been a few weeks, you look really different."

"Your one to talk." This statement came with a dark humor to it. The man standing in the cell was almost unrecognizable from the Phen back in Urumqi. This man had long unkempt hair with a beard consuming most of his face. He looked emaciated, with his green prison garb hanging loosely over his shrunken torso and shoulders. His legs shook slightly, as if standing was a great pain for him. Worst of all were the scars and bruises that could be seen up and down his face and arms. " _He looks like he's been pelted with rocks,_ " Yuan thought, before realizing that might have been the case.

"Yeah the meals here suck, and I can't find a decent barber," Phen replied with a small good natured chuckle. "What about you? Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you?"

"Well," Yuan scratched the back of his head as he thought about all he had been through in the past several weeks. "It's been a weird trip, but basically I've been lying low and trying to find a place where I can settle down for a little bit."

"So you thought a United Republic prison would be a good place?" Phen asked in his familiar sarcastic tone.

"Wasn't exactly my first choice. I'm guessing it wasn't yours either?"

"If you can imagine. No, the day after you left Ryu came back and arrested me and Teng. Li Chen and Phu had both run off that night. Me and Teng tried to hide, but they found us pretty quick. Ryu decided to keep Teng around as a 'local liaison' while I got shipped off to this hole."

Yuan felt enormous pangs of guilt over this. "Phen, I'm so sorry I ran. I didn't know what to do and I was scared and I … I…"

"Hey, it's ok. I can't imagine what you've had to go through, you know with the whole 'Avatar' thing. No ones mad at you. Except maybe Bartok, but that's hardly a negative." Phen assured with another chuckle.

Yuan refused to be reassured. "But look at you! You're a ghost! And all those marks on your arms, what have they been doing to you?"

Phen's small grin disappeared. "It hasn't been too bad. They're just trying to get information out of me. I've got nothing to offer though, so it's essentially just a one on one session between me and whatever sadist they have on shift that day. Hopefully they'll realize I've got nothing for them and stop after the next few rounds. Seriously, don't worry about it, I'll be fine. Now the important thing is, why are you here?"

"I'm here with this guy," Yuan pointed back at the Scorpion, who was leaning on the opposite wall from them.

"Is that The Iron Scorpion? What are you doing hanging out with that guy? I thought you said you were lying low?" Phen tone fluctuated between shocked, impressed, and worried.

"That's kind of part of the long story," Yuan turned to the notorious terrorist. "Hey, what are you waiting for? Bend the bar's and get Phen out of there."

"Can't, the bars are platinum," the Scorpion replied in a nonchalant voice.

"What? If you knew that then why did we come down here?" Yuan's voice quickly became indignant.

"So you could see what's been happening. And now that you've seen we need to get going. The guards are going to start their rounds in a few minutes, so we have a choice between staying here a few more minutes or the rest of our lives," he gave this ultimatum with the same even tone.

"What? We're not leaving without Phen, we have to do …" Yuan began.

"No, he's right," Phen cut him off. "I don't want you getting caught. You need to get out of here."

Yuan gave his friend a desperate look, "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine," he reassured. "I've taken harder lumps from you mom then these guys."

Yuan looked between Phen and the Scorpion, before heaving a sigh in defeat. He began to walk towards the other end of the hallway, but turned before he went too far. "I'm coming back for you, Phen. I don't care if I have to rip the bar's out with my hands I'll get you out."

Phen gave one last chuckle, "I'll be waiting right here."

Yuan and the Scorpion returned to the surface without incident or a word spoken. It wasn't until they were about to board the boat again that Yuan finally spoke up. "So what's the plan?"

"What plan?" The Scorpion asked, keeping his annoyingly calm voice from before.

"The plan to break Phen and everyone else out from that pit," Yuan elaborated in an annoyed tone.

"There is no plan. We're not breaking anyone out from prison." His tone held steady.

Yuan was through with all of the Scorpions cryptic nonsense at this point. "Then why bring me down there? What was the point? To taunt me? To piss me off? Cause I gotta say, you did a bang up job."

"Tell me, what would we do after we broke everyone out? We'll have to fight through hundreds of guards and soldiers, so that's one problem. Then we have to get them all off an island and through the most militarized city on the planet, to escape to where exactly?" Yuan looked down at his feet when he realized he had no answer to these questions. "That's what I thought. And it's not even like that's the only prison of it's kind. There are dozens scattered throughout The United Republic and Earth States. The same prison's where they torture and kill people, just because they think they might have done something wrong. People like my friends, my parents …. my wife!" His voice rose in anger before exploding with rage at the last two words.

Yuan stared at the man, seeing him in an entirely different light. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea you had so many people who … were you ever …"

"Yes," the Scorpions voice regained some of it's composure. "I managed to escape, but not everyone is as lucky as me."

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, before Yuan finally looked up. "Alright, you said you had a plan to topple The United Republic, right. If that means we can free Phen and the others then I'll help. No killing though, I'll never cross that line."

The Scorpion chewed over these conditions for a moment. "It shouldn't be a problem, I hope at least."

"Awesome. Now get me the antidote, I can't help if I'm dead."

"Oh, that? There was never any poison. I just needed to get you down into the prison." For whatever reason this set Yuan off into hysterics, where he was shortly joined by the Scorpion. They both got on the boat and set a course for the mainland.

**Coming Soon: Chapter 9 - The Scorpion's Sting Pt. 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thanks for reading. Leave any feedback if you've got any.


	9. The Scorpion's Sting Pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kunchen and Nerrivik continue their search for Yuan. All the while, the young Avatar and The Iron Scorpion enact the first part of their plan against Republic City.

Chapter 9 - The Scorpion's Sting Pt. 1

"So you're sure about this?"

"Unless you have a better idea."

Kunchen and Nerrivik gawked upwards at the skyscraper. Kunchen had made fun of Yuan for doing the same, but it hadn't been at a building quite this impressive. Far and away the tallest structure in Republic City, and possibly the world, Varrick Towers was an 70 story behemoth of concrete, steel, and glass. After a few moments of basking in the glory of this modern obelisk, the two returned their gaze to each other.

"My family and the Varricks have always been really close. I've even met Ahnah a few times, I'm sure she'll remember me," Kunchen said, trying to reassure both Nerrivik and himself.

"Ok," Nerrivik acquiesced as the two entered the building. The lobby was unbelievably big, with several benches and fountains strategically placed, while dozens of people in professional attire went about their business. The two walked towards the front desk, where a woman was talking on the phone while sorting through several stacks of paper.

After she finished on the phone Kunchen spoke up, "Hi there. My name is Kunchen Beifong, and I'd like a meeting with Ahnah Varrick, please."

The woman gave him an annoyed look, "A lot of people want to meet with Ms. Varrick. You're going to have to schedule an appointment like everyone else."

Kunchen remained unfazed by this, "Oh don't worry, Ahnah is a close family friend. I should be fine to meet her in her office."

"Sir, I don't care if you're her father come back from the grave, without an appointment you're not seeing her. The earliest I can pencil you in for is about a week from now," she responded before returning to her paper stacks.

"A week? Come on, there has to be an earlier time," the airbender pleaded with her.

"I'm afraid it's a week or nothing," she gave the ultimatum with almost a sick joy in her voice.

Kunchen heaved a defeated sigh, "Alright, let me write down my contact information." He was handed a form to fill out, which he completed quickly before turning towards the door in defeat.

As he and Nerrivik walked towards the exit, the waterbender looked up and stopped mid pace. She stared intently at a door on the far side of the lobby, nestled in corner. Waving for Kunchen to follow her, she walked over to the door and peered into the window. "Hey there's an elevator down this hallway."

"So?" asked a downtrodden Kunchen. "The door looks like it's locked, and I'm not about to…"

As he spoke Nerrivik drew a stream of water out of her pouch and forced it into the lock. Once she had completely filled the chamber she froze the water and, with a quick smack, shattered the lock. Slowly she opened the door and with a voice drenched in sarcasm said, "Oh no, it looks like the lock broke, somehow. We should probably tell someone about this. Maybe there's a locksmith on one of the upper levels. Let's go take a look."

Kunchen gulped as he followed her down the hallway and into the elevator. "This is all kinds of illegal," he said as they pressed the button labeled 'Executive Office'.

"We're about to ask one of the most powerful women in the world to help us track down and shelter a wanted terrorism suspect. We should probably get comfortable with the idea of doing illegal stuff," Nerrivik replied.

"Fair point, fair point," he conceded. "Still I wasn't quite expecting you to try something like this."

Nerrivik fidgeted uneasily. "Before I joined the Healing Corps. I had to do some pretty shady stuff to eat. Mostly pick pocketing type stuff, but I did break into a few shops to grab food."

"Oh," he said with some surprise, "I never even thought about that. You really went through a lot after you left home."

"Yeah," she responded with a small sigh. "That's not important right now. Let's just focus on talking to Ahnah." With that the two spent the rest of their several minute elevator ride concentrating in silence. Eventually they heard the satisfying ding, indicating they'd reached their destination. The scene outside the elevator was utter madness.

A mob of people was crowded in what looked like a small waiting room. They were all furiously shouting over each other, trying to get the attention of a woman at the epicenter. She was tall, with shoulder length brown hair neatly combed behind her head and into bangs. She wore circular glasses, which nicely accented her sharp face. As the mob began to press tighter, she threw her arms apart and managed to split the crowd.

As she patiently answered which ever question was just asked she looked up at her two new visitors and her face instantly lit up. "Kunchen! This concludes the meeting for today, we'll pick it up tomorrow. Go on now, scram you leeches, get out of my sight."

She began to shoo all of her associates into the open elevator, "Go on, get going you human filth." She turned to face the two benders and quickly added, "Great people, I love them like family," before picking Kunchen up in a bear hug.

Ahnah launched into a flurry of questions. "It's been so long since I've seen you. Seriously what's it been, 5 years? You've gotten so big. How's the family? Yin, Rabten, and Sonam are all well I hope. What about your grandpa Bolin, he doesn't come to visit nearly enough these days. Why aren't any of them here with you? Come to think of it, who's this young lady you're with?"

"4 years. They're fine. Long story. And Nerrivik," he answered all the questions with a casualness that shocked Nerrivik more than the abrasiveness of their host. "If we could talk somewhere a little more comfortable, I'd be glad to tell you everything."

"Of course, of course," she ushered them into her office and pressed a button on her desk, "Yuzu, cancel my appointments for the day, I'm meeting with an old friend. I've really got to thank you for sneaking in. It reminded me that I've got to hire some new security guards. I fired the last staff over a uniform dispute. Anyone that thought those blue button up's looked good is not someone I want to trust my life with. Anyway's what brings you here, you mentioned a long story?"

"Well, before I start, I have to make sure you're ready. Some of the stuff is a little unbelievable, and a lot of it is pretty illegal. Can you please keep this a secret?" he asked.

"Can I keep a secret? I've covered up years of questionable business practices. Half the things in our R & D labs would get me put on trial for crimes against humanity. You can trust me," she only sort of reassured.

"Well ok," Kunchen launched into an explanation of the past several weeks, describing everything from him first meeting Yuan to the Avatar's disappearance. He covered everything in between, from the terrorism accusations to the various kidnappings. He even got up and acted out a few of the fights they'd been in.

Ahnah absorbed all of the information in silence. After a few moments of quiet, she slowly began, "Wow ... ok. When you said unbelievable I thought you met someone famous or saw a really cool animal or something. This is a bit much."

"Do you believe me?" Kunchen asked, slightly unsure of himself.

She quickly nodded her head, "I do. You have no reason to lie, especially not about something like this. So you came to me to help track down the Avatar?"

"We're kind of out of options," he replied. "There's no way we can search the entire city by ourselves."

The business woman chewed it over a bit more in her head. "Alright, I know a few people I can have search the city discreetly. Don't worry kid's with we'll be able to find the Avatar in no time."

**********

After three days they had not found the Avatar. Yuan spent this time underground preparing with The Iron Scorpion. The terrorist's main base of operation in Republic City was actually fairly impressive, considering how restricted he was in the creation of it. Hidden beneath the sewer and subway systems of the city, it required earthbending to open a hole to it's entrance. A series of small vents fed into the subway and kept the air breathable. The lair itself was 3 medium sized rooms centered around the large one Yuan had originally woken in. This main room served as the kitchen, weapon storage, and currently Yuan's quarters. The room to the left of this was an unadorned training room, where the two spent several hours sparring and running drills of their planned maneuvers. Another room to the back acted as The Iron Scorpion's quarters and main communication hub. Apparently he had hooked up an old radio with some wires that fed from one of the cities radio stations, allowing him to mask the signal. The final room was the bathroom.

The base wasn't the only impressive part of the Scorpion's operation in the city. In between all the murder and kidnapping he'd found time to collect dozens of various weapons and pieces of equipment, which he kept organized in several shelves and and cabinets in the main room. The vast majority were surplus from the former Earth Empire Army, although they were in remarkably good repair. This collection pailed in comparison to his assortment of poisons, tranquilizers, and antidotes. These were kept in a locked closet at the side of the room, to prevent any 'untrained hands' from accidentally touching them. These were the Scorpion's pride and joy, with him discussing them at length whenever he was given the opportunity.

It was in this environment and with this equipment that Yuan and the Scorpion spent three day's training and preparing. Their sparring matches were fast and ferocious, frequently ending with Yuan on his back. As the day's passed he grew more and more used to the ebb and flow of the Scorpion's fighting style, and soon he began landing some heavy hits of his own. It wasn't all fighting, however. The Scorpion spent several hours going over each of the vials he kept in his poison closet, carefully describing their effects and what situations they were used in. Randomly during the day, he would grill Yuan on this information, with the Avatar receiving a swift blow for wrong answers.

The worst of it came on the first day, when he realized the Scorpion's information on him wasn't as complete as he'd initially assumed. The terrorist had flown into a rage when Yuan explained he could only bend earth with any proficiency. And by earth he meant only earth, not even metal. The Scorpion attacked him in the hopes of provoking another element, but after a 5 minute beating it was clear the Yuan had nothing to offer. He took an hour to cool off, before approaching him with a new plan. He produced a sack full of clay which he explained would explode upon sudden impact. The two spent the next several hours moulding these into little balls, perfect for quickly firing off.

In between all of the preparation for the job, the two also took time to square away for after they were done. Yuan used his earth bending to carve out a small nook on in the corner of the main room. The Scorpion then took several metal plates and began covering the walls and floor of the nook and surrounding area in the steel. He then took about a dozen metal pipes and sealed off the nook into a cell. Yuan remembered hearing stories of how some boys would build sheds or tree forts with their dads, and he suddenly realized might be the closest he would ever get. " _Wow that's messed up,_ " he thought to himself.

This wasn't the sole thought he had that disturbed him. For all his doubts and apprehensions about what was happening, he couldn't help but start to feel a little bit of a bond forming between him and the psychopath. For every cheap blow or quick reprimand, there was always a moment of mercy and a chance at redemption. In many way's the Scorpion reminded him of Teng, the way he made everything a lesson and genuinely made him work for improvement. Teng might have been offended by the comparison, but Yuan had honestly missed this kind of tough love. Whether the feeling was mutual was another story entirely.

The only part of his life that seemed to hold over from the past were the dreams. He'd had another during his stay with the Scorpion. This one was just as painful as the previous, with him being beaten to a pulp in the snow, by a man he recognized as his uncle. Well not his uncle, but the one of the girl Yuan controlled in the dream. After he'd been defeated the man had made a motion and slowly drew a large glowing light out of Yuan's mouth. As the light was pulled from him, he felt an intense pain all over his body, almost like a mystical fifth limb was being severed. He'd dwelled on it for while, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind as he continued his training.

It didn't matter now. None of these thoughts mattered now. All that mattered was Yuan, the Scorpion, and the airship slowly approaching from the distance. It was midday and the two were positioned atop of one of Republics City's tallest skyscrapers. The airship was just a black dot on the horizon, it would take it several minutes before it was within range. The two sorted through their equipment and began going over the final details of the plan.

"So you have your explosives ready?" the Scorpion reminded.

"Yeah, all prepped and ready to go," Yuan responded.

The terrorist nodded his head, "Excellent, remember to follow my lead. We don't know the specifics of the airship so stealth is essential if we want any advantage. We'll only have 5 minutes to get in and out before it lands."

"I know, I know. I've actually been experiencing a lot of deja vu today, maybe I'll somehow suddenly remember the ships layout," the Avatar joked.

"Let's not get our hopes up. The deja vu makes sense though. You're not the first Avatar to break into one of these ships mid-flight." Yuan raised his eyebrow at this, prompting further explanation. "Avatar Korra infiltrated an airship to take hostages during the Battle of Republic City. It's a pretty famous story, because Kuvira actually fired on the Avatar and almost killed the hostages. Didn't you learn this in school?"

"I never went to school. My mom mostly taught me stuff when I was kid, but kind of just stopped when I got older," said Yuan kind of surprised at how little he knew.

"Do you know anything about the previous Avatars?" an incredulous Scorpion asked.

Yuan simply shrugged. "Just the basic stuff. Openned the Spirit Portal, invaded the Earth States, all that stuff. Basically if you might hear it in a sermon, it's what I know."

The Scorpion seemed aghast at this, but before he could speak a shadow began to creep over the roof. The two looked up and saw the airship was upon them. Yuan instinctively wrapped his arms around the Scorpion's waist. The latter raised his hand and fired a cable upwards, latching onto one of the ships outer propellers. The two ascended into the air and Yuan felt a sudden prick of fear on the back of his neck, realizing the only thing keeping him from a deadly fall was his own grip. This became even worse as they reached the top and the Scorpion planted his feet on the ships hull, leaving Yuan dangling by himself. With a quick motion of his arms, the Scorpion tore a small hole in the hull and crawled in, dragging Yuan behind him.

They stood up and found themselves inside what appeared to be a cargo hold, judging from the various crates and bags. It was poorly lit, allowing their dark green clothes to blend in. Yuan wore a striped down version of the Scorpion's outfit, with less armor but keeping the mask. He also wore a hood over his head, to block as much of his face as possible. There was a staircase on the far side that lead to a door, and presumably to the rest of the ship. The two moved to either side of the door, and the Scorpion silently ripped open a peephole. He held up two fingers, and after receiving a confirmation nod from Yuan whipped open the door. Before the two guards on the outside could move or make a sound the Scorpion had already fired two needles into their necks, causing both to wobble and collapse. The two infiltrators slid underneath them and caught them before their bodies made a noise.

They quietly stored the two guards in the storage room before moving forward. They silently crept along the sides of the walls, moving through the corridors trying to find their target. Eventually they reached a hallway on the side of the ship, with a door at the end. The two approached and the Scorpion quickly peered inside the window. Before he could signal Yuan, the two heard a creak behind them. They turned and saw a guard, piping hot cup of tea in hand, staring at the two intruders bug-eyed. After a beat, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "INTRUDERS! GET THE VICE-"

His warning was cut short when Yuan launched an explosive ball of clay into his torso. It made a decent sized explosion and threw the man back into a wall, knocking him out. Loudly cursing, the Scorpion slammed his fist into the metal door. It flew off it's hinges and smashed into the poor guard behind it. Not waiting to assess the situation, Yuan burst into the room and launched four explosives in all directions. One connected with a man's abdomen, while the rest simply peppered the room in fire and smoke.

The Scorpion followed the Avatar, and assessed the situation as the smoke cleared. Four guards remained, one in front and three to the left. The guard in front stood protectively before a middle aged woman, whom seemed entirely frightened by the situation. The Scorpion launched four needles at the guards, with two landing in a guard's neck. The remaining two men brought their forearms forward, and expanded steel shields to block the needles. Yuan launched another explosive into the side guard's shield. He skidded backwards, but held his ground and retaliated with the whip crack of a metal cable at the Avatar.

As his protege engaged that guard, the Scorpion continued with a barrage of needles against the one in the front. To his credit the man stood firm, raising his own metallic armor to cover most of his body. Seeing they were having no effect the Scorpion briefly paused the onslaught. The guard reacted instantly, flinging two razor sharp metal bands at his opponent. The Scorpion dodged one, but the other managed to nick his forehead and dribble blood into his eyes. Taking advantage of this, the guard launched two more aimed at the terrorists now exposed neck. It was the Scorpion's turn to show off his reflexes, slapping both blades aside.

He swung his arm forward, flinging his metal cable at the guards feet. It was dodged with a quick leap, and countered with the guards own metal whip. The two swung their cables around haphazardly trying to slice the other. Eventually the two wires caught each other and wrapped themselves into a knot. The Scorpion pulled back while the guard released his, causing the terrorist to stumble backwards. Before the guard could press the attack, he saw his one remaining comrade be unceremoniously launched across the room from a point blank explosion.

He looked back in forth and saw that he was now outnumbered two to one. Reacting before truly thinking, he grabbed the woman behind him with a quick, "Sorry ma'am." He swung his arm back, punching a human sized hole in the wall. In one lightning fast motion, he took the woman underarm and threw himself through the hole. In mid-air he released both his hip cables, and latched on to the nearest building to swing away.

The Scorpion let fly a string of curses, before firing his own cable at Yuan, which instantly wrapped itself around the Avatar. "Wait, what are you…" was all he managed to say before he was dragged out of the airship behind the Scorpion. Yuan screamed as he fell through the air, before having the wind knocked out of him with a quick jolt. He looked up and saw they were now swinging after the guard and the target.

Taking no notice of his partners discomfort, the Scorpion continued his pursuit like a man possessed. They swung and flew between Republic Cities enormous skyscrapers and highrises, always just behind their prey. He tried to fire two more needles, but couldn't aim with both his hand's preoccupied. The guard swung quickly around the corner of one building, and the Scorpion deftly used his cable to launch himself upward around the building next to it. Now with the height advantage, he tried to steer them to land on top of their target. Seeing that they might fall short, he swung Yuan downward like a flail, trying to knock the other two out of the sky. The guard saw them approach, however, and shot his cables downwards, dragging himself out of the Avatar-flail's arc.

The guard and target landed gracefully atop a passing metro-train. Cursing further, the Scorpion awkwardly caught his free cable on the end of the train. He flung himself to the top of the train, while Yuan crashed into the back, falling on to the back platform. The Scorpion yelled a quick apology at him, before turning to face his opponent. What he saw instead was a tunnel quickly approaching.

He dropped to his stomach, and buried his head on the trains roof, praying he was thin enough. Soon all light disappeared from the world, and he looked up to see he had made it by a few feet. He also saw the guard hunkered down with the woman. Bringing his hands forward, he fired what remained of his needles at them. The guard saw as he did this, and swiftly ripped the roof of the train upwards, blocking all projectiles. Before the Scorpion could begin another barrage of curses, he suddenly felt the train slow and saw a light begin to shine ahead.

They came to a screeching halt at the station, with both the Scorpion and the targets rolling off the side. The guard attempted to flee with the woman huddling beneath him, but the Scorpion grabbed the metal armor around his legs and drew it back. He stumbled to the ground as the woman tried to keep running. The Scorpion drew up the earth underneath the exit, sealing it off. The woman, and most bystanders crowded around the sides of the station in fear. As the terrorist began to walk towards her, the guard managed to kick up a stone from the ground and launch it into his back. The Scorpion fell forward, and rolled on the ground to face his opponent. He countered with two rocks of his own, but the guard spun behind a pillar to avoid them. Slicing his hands along the pillar, the guard punched into it, sending a concrete disk hurdling forward. The Scorpion reacted quickly, however, and managed to knock the disk away with an armored fist.

He wasn't fast enough to react as the guard appeared behind the disc, charging him. The terrorist raised his arms in a protective position as he was tackled to the ground. Dazed as his head smacked against the ground, he fluttered his eyes and saw as the guard raised a fist high above him. Suddenly a blade shot out from behind the fist. The guard swung his arm down, aiming at the Scorpion's neck. In a bit of desperation, the terrorist shot a hand over his neck, and grabbed at the blade with his metalbending. The two became locked in a tug of war, with the blade only a few inches from the Scorpion's hand and throat. He struggled with all his might and concentration, but the blade slowly began to sink closer and closer to a final blow. The blade slowly began to rub against his palm, when suddenly the guard was launched off of him by a pillar of stone from the ground smashing into his ribcage.

The guard landed on the ground next to him, and was immediately knocked out by a second rock, this one crashing over his head. The Scorpion looked up and saw a panting and exhausted Yuan standing over him. "Come on, we gotta go!" the Avatar yelled at him. The terrorist sprang to his feet, and walked over to the woman who was now alone, cowering in a corner. She tried to hit the Scorpion with a punch, but he easily caught her arm and knocked her unconscious with a quick neck chop. Yuan, meanwhile, had opened a large hole in the wall and was waving his hand for them to join him inside. With the two men and the woman now inside the hole Yuan brought his arm up, perfectly sealing the exit behind them.

**********

All told it took them about 20 minutes to tunnel back to the main base. As they entered, the Scorpion immediately moved to their makeshift prison, bending the bars so he could throw their captive in. As he moved the bars back into place Yuan decided to speak up, "That actually went pretty well. Aside from me puking out the back of a train, it could have been way worse."

The Scorpion gave a prideful smile, "I was actually worried for a few seconds. You really came through today, Yuan." The young bender beamed at the compliment. This might actually be the first time the man had used his actual name instead of calling him 'Avatar'.

"You go get yourself cleaned up," the Scorpion ordered. "I'm going to patch myself through and make the demands. The whole city should be in a panic by now." Yuan nodded in ascent and walked into one of the side rooms. They had a pipe feeding off the city's water main, allowing for quick showers. After he was done drying himself, he changed back into his regular clothes, happy with how comfortable they were in comparison to his other uniform. He walked back into the main room, and grabbed an apple from a cabinet.

As he sat down at the table, he saw the woman begin to rouse herself. He reached back and grabbed a second apple, before walking over. She was struggling to her feet as Yuan stood in front of her cell. "It's good to see you're awake, Madam Vice President."

She held her head, as if she had a splitting headache. "Huh, who are you? Where am I?"

"You know I asked those same questions when I wound up here," Yuan said with a small chuckle. "I'm not the important one though. I'm assuming you recognized my partner."

"The Iron Scorpion," she murmured "So, what's your plan, killing me to send a message?"

"What? No … no killing this time, that's the only reason I agreed to work with this guy. We're going to use you as a hostage. The Scorpions in the back room over there making demands as we speak," Yuan explained. He tossed her the second apple, which she caught out of instinct.

"You chose to work with this psychopath?" She asked incredulously, before taking a bite of the fruit.

"Well, it wasn't exactly 100% my choice, but I stand by our actions. The United Republic got a lot to answer for, and this is a first step towards that."

She gave a small snort at this, "And you think kidnapping me will do anything to stop my countries actions? President Goro might actually like if you kill me, it'll give him an excuse to get tough on terrorism."

Before Yuan could speak the Scorpion burst from the back room, slamming the door behind him. He kicked over one of the chairs and began to shake with rage.

"What happened?" Yuan asked, with genuine concern.

"They refuse to negotiate with anyone they deem as a 'terrorist' or 'insurgent'! I didn't get 5 words in before they cut off my broadcast!" he roared in response.

"Wait, they won't even hear our demands?" asked an incredulous Yuan.

The Scorpion smacked his fist into the table "No, they refuse to take us seriously!"

The Vice President chuckled as her previous statement was proven right almost immediately. The Scorpion reacted poorly, drawing a large blade from one of his gauntlets. He marched over to her cell, but Yuan stepped in the way, "Hold on. We agreed no killing before we started!"

The Avatar was roughly shoved aside by the larger man. "I'm not killing her. I'm just going to cut off a hand. I've done this before, people always cave when there's real violence." The Vice President immediately threw herself to the back of her cell, trying to get as far from the bar's as possible.

"What?" Yuan asked as he grabbed his partners shoulder. "There's got to be a better way of doing this."

The Scorpion shook off the hand and turned back, "Are you second guessing me?" The man's eyes were wide, with a dead look to them.

"No, but I'm not about to let you cut off this woman's hand's," Yuan responded, growing increasingly nervous.

The Scorpion stared at the ground for a while at this statement. Suddenly, without looking up, he shot his arm up at Yuan. Four metal bands fired at the Avatar's limbs, picking him up and splaying him against the wall. He struggled against the binding, but found himself just as stuck as he had been when he first woken up in the lair. In a quick flash, the Scorpion grabbed him by the neck and had the blade aimed at the bridge of his nose.

The two stared into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity. The Scorpion's glare was one of cold rage, composed on the brink of snapping. Yuan's was one of abject fear, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. This staring match lasted until Yuan's eyes began to water, and eventually he blinked. At this The Scorpion released his grip and retracted the blade back into his gauntlet.

"This isn't a partnership. You'd do well to remember that. I'll decide how to deal with the two of you in the morning," his voice had returned to a calmer tone. He walked back to the ajar door, and metalbent a cord behind him to turn off the lights. "Sleep well tonight, Avatar," he spoke before slamming the door behind him, leaving the now two captives in total darkness.

"..."

"..."

"Avatar?"

**Coming Soon: Chapter 10 - The Scorpion's Sting Pt.2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for reading. This is gonna be a two parter that will lead us into the halfway point of the book. If you have any suggestions or criticisms, please feel free to leave some feedback.


	10. The Scorpion's Sting Pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Scorpion enacts his final plan as Yuan begins to connect with his Avatar past.

"Avatar?" She repeated into the darkness. "Did he just call you the Avatar?"

Yuan uncomfortably fidgeted against his bindings before heaving a sigh and answering, "Yeah … yeah he did."

"You. You're seriously the Avatar?" she asked again, still either unable or unwilling to believe him.

Yuan closed his eyes and clenched his fists in concentration. With some effort he managed to create a decent size fireball around his right hand. The room lit up slightly with this, allowing Yuan to see the Vice President sitting in her cell, her mouth ajar. Quickly the flames dwindled, returning the two back to the darkness.

After a few moments the Vice President managed to utter a faint, "Wow." Yuan began to smirk a little before she continued, "Wow, I had no idea it was this bad."

"Excuse me?" asked Yuan, a mix of puzzled and offended. "What do you mean 'this bad'?"

"I just found out that the current Avatar is a violent insurgent. Not just an insurgent actually, but a colossally stupid one at that." Her voice was harsh and accusatory.

"Hey, I'm right here! And I'm not an insurgent or a terrorist or whatever... And I'm not stupid." he reacted instinctively.

"Really? So you didn't kidnap a high ranking politician with the intent of extorting the government, and you didn't do it with a deranged lunatic who just double crossed you? Am I following this correctly?" She responded, beautifully weaving her sarcasm with condescension.

"Hey, I mean … that's not … you're not …." Yuan stammered at her before uttering a frustrated grunt. "It wasn't completely my choice."

"Oh, but you stand by your actions, right? That's what you told me before you're partner almost slit your throat. If you're what we have for an Avatar, then I think the Church might be on to something."

The words cut deep at Yuan, but instead of shame or embarrassment he felt rage overwhelm him. "You know what, screw the Church, screw the Scorpion, and screw you! All I ever get is a load of crap from everyone because I'm the Avatar so I must be evil, or because I'm from the Earth States so I must be a terrorist! I wouldn't have agreed to join the Scorpion if it wasn't for your nation treating me like dirt, invading my home, and throwing my friends into your secret prisons! If you want to…."

"Wait," she interrupted him. "What was that you just said about your friend?"

"My friend Phen got caught with the wrong people, so you decide it's fair to torture him in some prison underneath Air Temple Island." Yuan explained, his voice still on edge. He was caught off guard when there wasn't an immediate response. His anger slowly began to dwindle as the silence continued, finally switching to concern by the time he heard the sound of one of the walls being kicked.

"I knew it. Goro's always danced around and denied it, but I knew it," she was quietly muttering to herself.

"Wait a minute, you weren't told about the prisons?" Yuan asked.

"Pris-ons?!" she repeated, clearly shocked at the plural. "No... I always had my suspicions, most people do, but President Goro has always categorically denied it."

"So wait, Goro is keeping secrets, even from his own Vice President?" Yuan continued to pry, a little bit surprised.

"Hah, Goro would replace me with a scarecrow if he could. The man hates me. I'm a member of the opposing party, he only gave me this position so he would win the last election. I was actually pretty excited when he told me, I figured I'd be able to positively impact the government. But he's been keeping me sidelined for the past 4 years, making sure I don't have any real power or responsibility. The diplomatic mission I was returning from when you kidnapped me, you know what that was? It was me making an appearance in the Fire Nation Capital for National Tea Appreciation Day. I didn't even talk to anyone, I just drank tea and posed for some photos."

Yuan listened in silence as she explained her plight. After she finished, he thought for a moment about everything she'd said. "Huh. So basically President Goro is more like a dictator? Because if he's keeping something as big as the prisons a secret, I can't imagine what else he's hiding."

He heard the Vice President slowly pick herself up. "Not quite. He's limited by the Quorum, a legislative body I used to be part of. But he has been slowly building up power for the past decade or so. He's really popular amongst the people for being tough on terrorism, but that's been waning recently because of how long we've been involved with the Earth States. Still he's very powerful, and less than scrupulous. He's probably licking his lips right now thinking of the public outcry against terrorism and how he can use it."

The Avatar nodded along as she explained everything, "Well …. crap. Ok, we'll figure something out. I'm not about to give up on saving Phen just yet."

"You seem pretty confident considering we're both at the mercy of your psycho partner," the Vice President remarked with some bemusement.

"If he was going to kill us he would have done it already. Guy just flies off the handle sometimes, he'll cool off by the morning, and after that we can figure out a plan," Yuan said with the confidence plain in his voice.

The Vice President couldn't help but feel reassured by this sentiment. "You know him best I suppose. I'll let you talk to him tomorrow. And thank you for saving my hand, by the way. It was pretty courageous of you …."

"Yuan," he said with a small chuckle.

"Sang," she gave her own name. "Sang Huifeng. I'm putting all my faith in you kid, I hope you know what you're doing."

Yuan gulped at this, but decided to remain silent. Eventually, despite his discomfort with his current position, sleep overtook him. As had been the all too frequent case in the past few days, this night also had a dream.

**********

His eyes fluttered open, and he found himself in the same position he'd fallen asleep. Except instead of metal bands holding him against a wall it was chains dangling him over a pit of lava. Long hair draped over his back and shoulders, and he immediately realized he was the girl again. He frantically looked around the cave he was trapped in and saw three people standing above the lava pit, with two other hooded figures behind them. The man in front of him was speaking at him, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. Involuntarily, Yuan yelled a retort at him, but the context was completely lost on the Avatar. Suddenly the two men in robes stepped forward, one holding a bowl of shining liquid. The other slowly moved his arms, drawing the liquid out of the bowl, before directing it into a stream aimed at Yuan's mouth.

He could tell from the taste as it was being forced down his throat that the liquid was metallic, He struggled and strained against the restraints, but it made no difference. After a few seconds he had swallowed the last of it. Suddenly the world began to go dark around him, his vision blurring and a dull pounding began to sound off in his ears. His body violently convulsed, as his stomach tried desperately to reject the poison. He could feel it permeating every part of his body, from his feet to his brain.

A loud slamming noise woke Yuan, bringing him back to reality. He was just as restrained as he'd been in the cave, but at least now his body wasn't trying to kill itself. " _Man, I don't know how this girl keeps surviving, none of these dreams end well for her,_ " he thought to himself.

Looking up, he saw that the Scorpion had entered the room and deduced that it must be morning. "Good morning. Did you sleep well, cause I gotta say, I feel a little stiff," Yuan joked, hoping it would give the conversation a lighter mood. The Scorpion merely grunted in response, as he dug through the cabinets looking for some food. The Avatar took this as neutral sign, and cast a sideways glance, seeing that Sang was also waking up.

After picking a large pear from the back, the Scorpion sat himself down at the table on the other side of the room and slowly ate in silence. The two prisoners stared at him intently, waiting for him to make an indication about what he wanted to do with them. After he finished, he tossed the core to the side and wiped his mouth before speaking. "I managed to get through to the government. They were very careful about what they said, but I managed to talk them into an exchange."

Yuan's face lit up at this. "Really? Well alright, so we give back the Vice President and we get Phen and some other prisoners then?"

"No," the Scorpion answered, his tone grim. "We are exchanging the Vice President, but we're not getting any prisoners. The terms were I give her back and I get my freedom and President Goro has to be there."

Yuan shot him a puzzled look. "Wait the President agreed to meet face to face with you? And you get a pardon just like that?"

"No," this time it was Sang answering. "There's no way the administration would agree to pardon you. What's your angle?"

"You're right, it's almost definitely a plan to draw me out and capture me. There'll probably be dozens of guards and police there. But it should provide enough security to make Goro feel comfortable with coming out," the Scorpion explained.

Yuan's brow continued to furrow, when suddenly it began to dawn on him. "Your whole plan is to get Goro out in the open?"

The Scorpion snapped his fingers and pointed at the Avatar. "Bingo. I didn't even ask for the pardon, they offered. Probably want to try to put me at ease."

"No, you're not doing this," Yuan began to protest. "We agreed before this, no killing. And how would you escape? There's going to be enough guards there that you might not even get a shot at him."

"I've been planning this for quite a while now," the Scorpion assured, keeping his voice flat and neutral. "I'll get my shot. As for escape, I probably won't. But after Goro and her are dead, I could care less what happens to me."

"Wait, you don't need…" Sang began, but was cut off by a metal band slapping itself across her mouth. She gave several muffled screams as the Scorpion shot four more bands around her limbs, pinning her to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Yuan was the one yelling now. "You said no killing if I agreed to work with you." Before he could continue he saw a metal flash shoot out of the Scorpions sleeve and felt a sharp prick in his neck. "I … I … why?"

The Scorpion walked up to the Avatar, cupping his face with his hand. "We're not working together anymore, Avatar. I want to assure you, this needle had a real poison in it. It's The Lung Constrictor, a slow one, probably going to take a few hours. Too fast and your body might know something's wrong and enter the Avatar state. The Red Lotus learned that one the hard way with your predecessor."

" _Red Lotus?_ " Yuan thought to himself. " _Avatar Korra was poisoned? Wait a minute, that's right, I know this one. The Red Lotus was one of the earliest terrorist groups ever. They kept on trying to kill the Avatar._ " Suddenly through his short random thoughts, he made the connection in his mind. " _That was Korra in my dream. I was Korra_ "

The revelation stunned him, but he was quickly brought back to reality as the Scorpion slapped his face. "I'm sorry our partnership has to end in such a way, but I can't let you interfere."

Yuan shook off the slap, and tried to arrange his flurry of thoughts. He was only just beginning to realize that he'd been poisoned. "You don't have to do this. There's got to be a better way."

"I wish I shared your confidence," the Scorpion remarked as he began to ready his equipment, and gather several weapons. "Maybe your successor will be able to truly change something."

Yuan shouted more protests, but the Scorpion ignored him. The Avatar thrashed and struggled with all his strength, but the bindings were too tight, and he wouldn't budge. After readying all his supplies, the Scorpion ripped apart the bars on Sang's cell and lifted her into the air by the bands around her wrists and ankles. She weakly uttered some muffled protests, which the Scorpion easily ignored. The two exited through the front entrance, leaving the slowly dying Avatar to his fate.

**********

Kunchen and Nerrivik sat next to each other, eating a modest breakfast on one of Varrick Estates many extravagant banquet tables. Ahnah had graciously offered to let the two stay with her, an opportunity they had been keen to jump on. The estate catered to their every need, feeding them, allowing them full access to the pool, and even letting them check out Varrick Industries latest inventions and gadgets. All this served as distractions as everyday turned up no news about Yuan.

"Did you see the blueprints for their gyro device?" Kunchen asked, breaking the silence. "It's actually a pretty cool concept, you see…"

"We're failures, Kunchen," Nerrivik cut him off.

"You see it'll allow the passengers and pilot to hover in mid-air. It also makes altitude adjustment easier," the airbender continued, seemingly ignoring her.

"It's been 4 days and we haven't seen him. Even with Ahnah's help we can't find him. He's probably not even in the city anymore," Nerrivik pressed.

Kunchen heaved a sigh. They'd had this conversation a few times over the past several days, and it was becoming harder and harder for him to ignore their lack of success. "We don't know that. For all we know who could be lying low in a homeless shelter or in one of the refugee neighborhoods."

"Or prison," the waterbender added. "They kept him detained for hours at the border, there's a huge chance they might have recognized him after the fact."

Kunchen slammed his head against the table. "I know, I know, but what else can we do? It's not like we had any luck by ourselves. And you heard the news yesterday about the Vice President. I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but there's no way Yuan isn't connected somehow."

"I remember, it's all you talked about last night. But unless you can think of a way to find the only person in the city more wanted than Yuan, I don't know what you want to do."

"Something! Anything!" he exclaimed. "We've been looking for days, and we finally found something that might, almost, possibly be a clue. This is our best bet and we've got to look at it. It's not like anything is going to just fall into our lap."

As if on cue, one of Ahnah's several butlers emerged from the door nearest them in the hall holding a phone. "Pardon me for interrupting your meal, but theres a call on the line for Master Beifong."

The airbender sat up and walked over to grab the line. "Seriously Yan, call me Kunchen. 'Master Beifong' weirds me out." After receiving an affirming nod from the servant, Kunchen picked up the phone. "Hello? Uh-huh…. Yeah…. No we aren't….. Wait, right now?... Yeah I'll turn it on now!"

He quickly hung up the phone and waved for Nerrivik to follow him out the door. The two emerged into an enormous foyer, with three ornate couches in front of the largest Telescreen ever created, at 24x24 inches. Kunchen turned it on, and twisted the dial until they reached one of the news channels. On the screen they could see a mob of people gathered outside an enormous, palace-looking building. Lights flashed from all the cameras in the audience, although the noise of the throngs was muted to the Telescreen. A man's voice droned over the video, commenting on the nervousness and tension in the crowd. At the front of the crowd there was a shorter middle aged man, flanked by several guards in metal armor. The man was speaking to the crowd, making several sweeping gestures and keeping a confident smile on his face.

"What's going on?" asked Nerrivik. "What was that phone call about?"

"It was Ahnah. Apparently The Iron Scorpion agreed to give up the Vice President. That guy up front is President Goro, I think." The two continued to stare intently at the screen, listening as the droning voice explained Goro's answers to the reporters. This interview continued for about a half an hour, until a sudden hush fell over the crowd.

Everyone's faces slowly began to turn away from the President, and towards the road leading up to them. As the camera began to pan, they could see several metalbending guards appear from the within the crowd. They moved towards the center and split the crowd apart, creating a large pathway to the President. Overhead a zeppelin flew, bearing the marking of Republic Cities Police Dept. Eventually the camera managed to pan and focus enough that the two viewers got a clear look at what was drawing everyone's attention. About 100 meters away from the President stood a lone man, with a woman helplessly dangling in mid air behind him, a floating blade aimed at her neck.

**********

After what felt like an eternity of struggling, Yuan went limp. Exhausted, he panted and sweat. With each inhale he felt himself struggling more and more. He remembered the Scorpion's lesson about the Lung Constrictor. It was a subtle poison, almost impossible to notice at first. Slowly the person would feel themselves growing more and more tired, and breathing being harder and harder. If they didn't find a place to rest they would normally collapse of exhaustion after a few hours. Their bodies would begin to go numb, as their muscles became weaker and weaker. Finally breathing would become impossible all together and they would slowly suffocate, prone and helpless.

" _I've probably just helped the poison with all that,_ " he thought to himself in frustration. " _And for all the good it did!_ "

He began to bash the back of his head against the wall. Equally futile, but at least this was cathartic. Maybe he'd even kill a few brain cells and save himself some suffering later on. Eventually the pain of the wall became overwhelming and he force himself to stop. Dazed, he stared at the ground for several minutes, unable to form a coherent thought.

After a few moments of this he regained his composure. His eyes darted around the room, panicked, looking for anything that could help him. He opened and closed his hands trying to reach out and find something he could bend. With his arms restricted he could feel the wall behind him, but he couldn't do a thing to budge it.

" _It's hopeless,_ " he finally thought to himself in defeat. " _I'm actually going to die down here. I'm the most powerful person on the planet, and I'm going to die in a pit, with the antidote like twenty feet from me. I might be the worst Avatar ever._ "

" _Well with an attitude like that, yeah you probably will be._ "

" _Huh. I don't remember hallucinations being part of the side effects,_ " he thought to himself, nonchalantly. " _Maybe I hit my head a little too hard._ "

" _Your brain's been damaged since the day you were born, but that's not the issue right now. The issue is you're poisoned and we need to get you un-poisoned._ "

" _Ok crazy-head-voice, and how do I do that? I'm just a little stuck right now,_ " he retorted, accepting the voice without question. At this point, he'd be willing to try anything.

" _You're an earthbender by birth, and you're telling me you can't metalbend?_ " the voice was beginning to grow testy.

" _No, alright. I've already tried a few times and I can't do anything,_ " Yuan was getting just as annoyed as the voice.

" _Oh ho, a few times? Well then, I guess we're done here. Clearly you've done everything in your power to save yourself. How dare I question your resolve._ "

" _Was there a memo put out about being a sarcastic jerk to me? Seriously I feel like everyone's in on this one._ "

" _Maybe if you'd stop being a whiney baby about everything people would stop treating you like one. Oh it's not fair, people are mean to me because I'm the Avatar or because I'm from the Earth States. Oh poor me, I bet no one else gets treated as bad as me._ "

" _I just got poisoned!_ " Yuan thought incredulously.

" _So, who hasn't? The worlds always gonna give you a hard time. That's life, get used to it. You're the Avatar, you don't get the luxury of a pity-party. There are people out there that are gonna need your help, you've got to be there for them. I'm here to make sure you get to be there. And to do that, I'm gonna need you to metalbend these braces off and get yourself that antidote._ "

Yuan sat there in silence for a little bit. Finally a smirk crept over his face. He'd always been 'a kick in the butt is a step forward' kind of guy, and this is just what the doctor ordered. " _Ok crazy head-voice, tell me what to do._ "

" _Finally. Metalbending's easy, you just need to realize that all metal has earth inside it. Once you find that earth, grab it. The rest is just like bending._ "

Yuan exhaled through his nose and closed his eyes in concentration. His fingers stretched out from his palms and began to slowly flutter up and down. He reached beyond him, searching for earth where the bands were. There was resistance as he poked and prodded around. He began to focus on these tiny pockets, feeling their shape and size. Finally he latched onto it, and found the earth he'd been looking for.

Knowing what it felt like now, he spread his search to the entire bands. He was surprised when he found that the bands, were almost completely coated in these tiny pockets of earth. Finally with a grunt and a yell, he grabbed the metal and ripped his arms and legs from the wall.

He fell to the ground, landing gracelessly on his face. Slowly he stood up and stretched out. He was beyond stiff, and the poison was tying his insides in knots, but nothing could compare the sheer freedom he felt. Suddenly he remembered why he'd broken free in the first place. He lurched forward, towards the cabinet. Tearing the lock off with ease (ok metal bending was pretty cool), he sorted through the various poisons and antidotes until he found what he needed. Ripping the cork off the top of the vial, he quickly downed half the contents. He then collapsed in a chair and let the antidote work it's magic. After a few minutes, the storm in his stomach began to quell and he felt good enough to stand up. " _Well alright, looks like I live to fight another day. Thanks crazy head-voice, I owe you one._ "

He sat in silence for several seconds waiting for a response. After nothing came, he began to think about how crazy everything that just happened had been. " _Maybe I was just hallucinating. But why was it a woman's voice? And why was she such a jerk? And what did she mean that everyone has been pois- oh holy crap that was Avatar Korra!_ " It suddenly all made sense, the dreams, her voice, the talk about poison. He could talk to his past lives? Why had no one told him about this before. He was gonna need to have a talk with Kunchen about this.

With the thought of the airbender came the sudden realization that there was a world outside the bunker. A world that was about to have a few less people in it, if Yuan didn't do something. Grabbing a few select antidotes to drink on the way, Yuan tore the exit off it's hinges and sprinted to the surface, hoping he wasn't too late.

**********

The flash of all the camera's and the din of the gathered crowds was more than the Scorpion had ever experienced. He let it wash over him, feeling the energy coming off the hundreds of people before him. The idea of a willing audience was new to him, but he felt it was only fitting, considering what was about to happen.

The Vice President had stopped her struggling shortly after they had reached the surface. Her expression was numb, but the dried trail of tears down her cheek stood as a testament to her fear. The Scorpion was silently grateful that she had settled down, it now required little energy or thought to keep her and the blade in place.

He stared forward, seeing Goro standing at the center of several metalbender guards, an overconfident smirk plastered across his fat face. All told there were about 25 guards, 15 controlling the crowd and roughly 10 on the President. There was also the issue of the airship, but the Scorpion had planned for that as well. " _It's all come down to this,_ " he thought to himself. " _One shot. I'll be with you soon, Mingyu. We'll finally be together again._ "

Two guards, that were previously handling the crowd, stepped forward. Both had determined looks on their faces, and the Scorpion couldn't help but feel sorry for them. They had no what they were about to get into. When they were within earshot, the taller of the two spoke up, "Scorpion! President Goro has wisely negotiated the safe return of Vice President Huifeng. Both sides have agreed to a peaceful exchange! Relinquish the Vice President and you will free of all charges!"

The Scorpion cocked his head to the side slightly, trying to decide if he should say anything. He figured that it made no difference either way, and instead opted of action. In a lightning fast motion he shot his right hand forward. Two needles flew out from his gauntlet, landing in the unsuspecting guard's necks. Both slapped at them and quickly collapsed to the ground.

Others saw this and quickly sprang into action, as the crowd began to shout and panic. Six guards rappelled down from the airship, ready to fire off metal blades at the terrorist below. The Scorpion took a cannister from his belt, pulled it's pin, and threw it to the ground. Smoke soon coated the area, reducing visibility to nothing. Putting on a pair of goggles, the terrorist sprang into action. Several guards who had begun running toward him down the stretch of road, now found themselves lost in the smoke. With several quick motions, the Scorpion managed to take out each one with a carefully placed needle. Once he was at the edge of his smoke cover he looked up to see the airship guards all desperately looking for a place to fire. The Scorpion loosened the drawstring on his side pouch and pulled out a handful of clay explosives. He flung them upward and, with some earthbending, guided them into the ships back turbine. The entire back of the ship combusted into an enormous fireball, careening it into the side of a building. Anybody unfortunate enough to be on the side of the ship was unceremoniously flung either into the building or onto the ground.

The smoke began to clear, and the Scorpion looked forward to the chaos unfolding. Many in the crowd had already fled, with the exception of a few bolder reporters taking every picture they could and random bystanders unable to take their eyes off the carnage. Five guards, fruitlessly trying to maintain order, took notice of the Scorpion now standing in front of them. They quickly formed a line, and all aimed their arms at him, prepared to seize him in their cables. With a flick of his wrist he dragged the Vice President through the remainder of the fog, levitating her in front of him like a human shield. All five guards hesitated as he pressed the blade into the skin on her neck. The brief lapse was all the Scorpion needed, allowing him to place his arm on the Vice Presidents shoulder, and fire five needles into their necks.

With all the guards in front of him taken care of, he marched forward just behind his captive. Goro stood behind four remaining guards, his face determined and unmoving. The guards bunched themselves around him, trying to make any shot impossible. The Scorpion casually launched a ball of explosive clay at their feet, flinging all of them in every which direction. Sending a needle into each of their necks for good measure, he strode towards Goro, who was just picking himself up from the blast. Once the Scorpion was within about 20 feet, he turned to a particularly dedicated cameraman who was filming all of this from afar. "You! Bring the camera forward! All of Republic City should see this!"

The man panically nodded his head and rushed forward as Goro was dusting himself off. The President glared at the Scorpion and said, "I wasn't quite expecting all of this when you made your demands, Khan. That is your name right?"

The cameraman got just close enough to keep the two men and woman in frame. The Scorpion turned to face the camera before speaking. "That was my name once. It was my name before my family and I were uprooted from our home, and thrown in one of your dungeons. It was my name before you tortured us on suspicions of terrorism! It was my name before my wife died because of you and your countries sick sense of justice! My name is The Iron Scorpion and for the first time in decades, I will show The United Republic true justice! Hoten Goro, Sang Huifeng, for crimes against the Earth States and humanity I sentence you both to death!"

He took the Vice President and forced her beside her boss. Leveling his arm, he prepared to fire two blades into their necks. A quick and violent end, just as they deserve. Right as he was about to fire the shots, a shadow appeared overhead. The two blades fired from his arm as he looked up to see what was above. Just as the blades were about to meet their marks, a figure dropped down and slapped both away. The Scorpion stared in disbelief as the person looked up, revealing an enraged looking Yuan.

**********

Kunchen and Nerrivik's faces had been glued to the screen as the entire chaos unfolded on camera. Neither had managed to utter a word as the the Scorpion methodically tore through the President's guards. Both looked away before the Scorpion fired on the President and Vice President. After a few seconds of silence, Nerrivik peeked through her fingers at the screen. Soon she had both eyes open and was squinting to recognize the new figure on camera. Suddenly it hit her, "Kunchen! Kunchen! Look!"

The airbender looked up from his hands, "Wait what is - Holy crap, is that him?!"

"What's he doing their?!" Nerrivik asked, unsure what emotion she was feeling.

"Who cares?! We need to go get him!" Kunchen was already making a break for the door.

Nerrivik ran up beside him. "Ok, you race on ahead, I'll get there as fast as I can."

The airbender nodded in assent. Once outside, he propelled himself into the air, and unfurled the flaps on his suit. Creating a draft beneath himself, he flew as fast as he could to the Presidential Offices, no idea what to do when he got there.

**********

The two men stood in front of each other for a moment, both unsure how to proceed. Suddenly the Scorpion flung another blade, which Yuan quickly smacked away. "I see you finally learned metalbending," the terrorist acknowledged.

"Didn't have much choice," replied Yuan, his voice icy and on the edge of anger.

"So I see," the Scorpion quickly fired a series of needles at his former apprentice. Yuan managed to knock a few to the side, but many landed along his arms. He quickly brushed them off, unaffected by whatever toxin the Scorpion had been using. "And I see you grabbed some antidotes as well."

Yuan rushed him, kicking up a rock and flinging it at his head. The Scorpion ducked and fired a cable at the Avatar. It wrapped itself around his arm, locking the two in a tug of war. After a few seconds of struggling the Scorpion released the cable from his gauntlet. It snapped back at Yuan, hitting his nose, and splattering blood across his face. The Scorpion took advantage of this distraction, and drew the earth up around the Avatar's feet to trap him. Yuan instinctively reached out and grabbed at the Scorpion's metal armor. He squeezed his hand into a fist, causing the armor tighten and constrict around his enemies body. The Scorpion reacted in turn by trying to crush the Avatar's legs in their earth prisons.

The two held each other in place for what felt like an eternity. Eventually the lack of oxygen became too much for The Scorpion, who released the earth around the Avatar's feet, and began to tear off his own metal armor. Yuan kicked up the bindings around his legs, aiming the debris at his opponent. The stones hit the Scorpion in the chest as he tore the final bits of armor off his body. He flew back, landing flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

Yuan picked up a heavy piece of earth from the ground and brought it down on the Scorpion. The terrorist recovered at the last second and managed to roll to the side. Springing to his feet, he drew two stones up with him and in two quick punching motions, sent them flying at the Avatar. Yuan caught both and promptly dug his fists into them, giving himself stone gauntlets before he charged the Scorpion. The terrorist sent a barrage of stones at him, but the Avatar managed to deftly bob and weave as he advanced. Once in range, he brought one fist back while quickly uppercutting with the other. The Scorpion ducked down to avoid the telegraphed punch, but was caught in the chin by the uppercut.

Stumbling backwards, he managed to regain his balance surprisingly fast. After spitting out some blood he cocked his head back and sneered. Yuan let out a small grunt at this challenge and began charging him. Before he could throw a punch, the Scorpion grabbed at the stone gauntlets and pulled them to either side of the Avatar. Yuan stumbled as his arms crossed over his chest. As he tripped, the Scorpion raised his leg and delivered a sharp kick to Yuan's stomach.

He fell back from the kick, causing his head to bounce harshly off the pavement. Blinking to try and regain his composure, his vision unblurred just in time to see the Scorpion deliver another kick to his stomach. Yuan groaned and rolled over, as more and more blows rained down on his body. Finally the Scorpion stopped, pulling the Avatar to his feet by the collar. Yuan managed to look up at his former partner only to see a steel blade pointed at his face.

"You really disappointed me, Yuan," the Scorpion's voice had an eerie calm to it. "You could have done so much to help this world, but instead you throw your life away defending these monsters."

Yuan coughed up a little bit of blood in response, "I'm sorry then, cause I've got a lot more disappointing to do." He inhaled as if he were about to have another coughing fit, but instead of blood and spit coming out, his mouth erupted into a blazing inferno. As the flames caught the Scorpion in the face, he screamed and released Yuan. Blinded by the fire, his hands uselessly pawed at his eyes, trying to regain vision.

Yuan kicked into the ground, causing a spike to fly from the ground and ram into the Scorpion's ribs. In one final labored motion, the Avatar lifted a fist sized rock into the air and brought it down on his opponent's head. The terrorist splayed out on the ground, motionless except for breathing.

The Avatar stood there for a few moments, unsure of his victory. Only after it became apparent the Scorpion wouldn't be getting back up, did Yuan look up. A crowd of stunned reporters and bystanders surrounded him. Perhaps the two most surprised faces in the crowd were those of President Goro and Sang. Yuan stared dumbly around the crowd, unsure of what to say or do. His confusion and uncertainty were only compounded as a familiar looking airbender suddenly fell from the sky. "Kunchen?" he asked, still dazed.

"You have no idea how much we've been looking for you," his friend replied. Yuan managed to stammer a noise, but was cut off when Kunchen brought him in for a hug.

The embrace was cut short as another familiar face suddenly sprang out of a nearby canal. Before Yuan could greet her, Nerrivik quickly smacked him across the back of the head. "Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you? We thought you were dead!"

"Ow! So this is how you greet me? I just got beaten half to death, so you think it's a good idea to finish the job?" asked Yuan, rubbing the back of his head.

"That's what you get for running away! How could you just leave us like that?" her voice was still angry, but Yuan heard some hurt in it as well.

"I didn't run, I was-" he started.

"Ahem"

All three turned to see that President Goro had walked up to them. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'd be remiss if I didn't thank you for saving my life. It's also not everyday that someone gets to meet the new Avatar."

Yuan stared blankly at the older man, completely dumbfounded. Thoughts quickly crashed and banged around in his head, but a coherent train refused to form. "Oh... right," was all he managed to squeeze out after several seconds of silence.

**********

Li Chen, Phu, and two other Rising Earth agents stood over a sprawled out map of the local area. They were inside a former spiritual shrine, which they had repurposed into their base of operations in the Urumqi region. They're campaign in the region was only a month in, but was already beginning to come apart on them. This small town was one of the few they held onto securely, and was dozens of miles away from Urumqi and the United Republic's main base.

"So what happened to the team we sent to Urumqi directly?" Li Chen asked.

"They were intercepted by Ryu's forces before they could plant the explosives," an older man answered from the other side of the table. "We don't have clear casualty numbers, but we believe there were no survivors."

Li Chen slammed his fist against the table. "Arghhh! Everytime we try to hit him, he always manages to get the drop on us! Have they responded to any of the demands we've made?"

"We executed 4 more hostages in Midong, but there only response was that they would put more pressure on retaking the city. They've already made a significant push in Karamay and now control most of the city. We're running out of resources and our commanders in the city believe retreat is our only option," explained the second man.

Letting out another enraged roar, Li Chen began to stab at the table with a small knife he kept on his side. "We've lost! There's no way we can keep up a campaign like this! We might as well surrender now, and refocus our efforts somewhere else!"

"I didn't know I placed cowards in charge of my organization," a cold and commanding voice rang across the room.

All four men looked over and immediately dropped to a bow upon seeing there previously leader. "Haiyan! We had no idea you were returning so soon. Please forgive my words, I didn't mean to speak with such carelessness," Li Chen began apologizing as fast as he could.

Haiyan strode across the room. A tall man and well muscled, his imposing figure cast a shadow clear across the room.. All the more intimidating was his wild long hair that flowed behind him and his full beard, which hung just below his neck. His bare feet slapped against the clay bricks on the floor and his billowing brown cloak trailed behind him as he walked towards his subordinates. Once he was upon Li Chen, Haiyan placed a reassuring hand on his subordinates shoulder. "There is nothing to forgive. In my absence I left you all without support, and you performed your jobs admirably. With my return I've brought several of our forces from around The Earth States. Now is the time to fight back my brothers! We will strike at Urumqi and drive the United Republic invaders from our homeland for good!" He picked up Li Chen's knife and stabbed it down on Urumqi's dot on the map.

This speech was met with rapturous applause from the men in the room. The oldest of them, looked up and down their commander and asked, "How was your sabbatical, Haiyan?"

"Enlightening," the man answered as his eyes scanned over the map like a hungry deerwolf. "But you'll see a demonstration in good time."

**Coming Soon: Chapter 11 - Avatar Duties**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to everyone that's been reading. This is my final backlogged chapter, so publishing is going to slow down quite a bit. This is also the halfway point in the first book, so things are gonna be changing up quite a bit. Please leave any feedback or criticism you have, it's always helpful.


	11. Avatar Duties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forgot I posted this on Fanfic, so I figured I might as well post it here.

Chapter 11 - Avatar Duties

The next several hours passed by Yuan in a blur. The few blows to the head he'd taken had already left him dazed, and the constant rushing around wasn't helping. One second he was outside standing in front of a huge, confused crowd, the next he was being pulled inside the Presidential Palace with Kunchen and Nerrivik. They were taken to a side room, while he was rushed to what he guessed was a healing station. Two middle aged waterbenders began to poke and prod around his body with their water, soothing all the bruises and scrapes he'd accumulated over the past several days. One asked him why so many of bruises were so old, but Yuan casually brushed aside the question. Other than the occasional medical history question, the time passed relatively peacefully. They even managed to partially fix Yuan's nose, which was still a little crooked and sensitive, but at least now it wasn't gushing blood.

After he was mostly cleaned up they ushered him into another room where they began taking several of his measurements. A man, who Yuan guessed was a stylist, began to offer him a series of new clothes. The Avatar stubbornly defended his current clothes, the ones he'd gotten from Zaofu and had actually grown a little attached to. His stylist pouted a little bit, before pushing him back into a chair in front of a mirror. Here he set to work applying little makeup touches to make Yuan's face as presentable as possible given it's current state. He also took a comb and gel to his hair, which had grown a little longer in the past few weeks. After he was finally deemed passable, Yuan was once again brought to a new room, this one containing Kunchen and Nerrivik. The two benders immediately stood up from their chairs and ran over to Yuan as he entered the room.

"What have they been doing with you? It's been an hour since they brought us in?" asked an exasperated Kunchen.

"I don't know. Healing and cleaning me up, I guess. I honestly have no idea why they're doing it," Yuan answered with a shrug.

"Ok that's so far down on my list of questions," chimed in Nerrivik. "Where have you been? Why did you leave? Why were you there to save the President?"

Yuan scratched the back of his head nervously. "It's… a really long story, and here is definitely not the place to get into it. If we go somewhere quieter I can explain everything."

"Well we can't leave this room," said a still very overwhelmed Kunchen. "We've already tried. This is the Presidential Palace, Yuan. Literally the last place we wanted to end up when we came to the city."

"Well… there are worse places. Seriously if they wanted to do something to us, we wouldn't be anywhere near here," Yuan explained, thinking back to Phen. "I have no idea why they brought us in, but we have to be careful. President Goro's not someone we want to piss off."

"Well then what can we do?" Kunchen continued to prod

"I don't know," Yuan said in a distressed voice. "I didn't exactly plan for this. I'm just trying…"

He was interrupted as the double wide doors on the other side of the room opened. From behind them emerged President Goro, two fresh guards in tow. The man walked towards them with a stately stride, his chest puffed forward trying to compensate for his shorter stature. It would have seemed like posturing if it wasn't for the smile he wore. It was a perfect politicians smile, straddling the line between invitingly genuine and eerily forced. Yuan found himself lost in thought trying to read the expression, that he barely noticed the actual man walk up to him.

"Hello there Mr. Avatar, it's a pleasure to meet you in a more formal setting," he said extending his hand.

A slightly befuddled Yuan hesitated for a second before quickly jerking his own hand forward to meet the president's. "Oh, um, thank you Mr. President. It's nice to finally meet you too."

Goro gave him a quick nod before turning to the two benders beside Yuan. "And you two must be the Avatar's companions. I hope that the facilities have been acceptable while you waited. We wanted to have your friend cleaned up a little."

Kunchen quickly began thanking the president and praising the Presidential Palace, while snapping into a bow. Nerrivik followed his lead, albeit at a more relaxed pace. Seeing his two other guests we're verbally satisfied, the President returned his attention to Yuan, "I don't mean to seem pushy, Mr. Avatar, but would you mind a private talk in the next room over? We obviously have much to discuss."

"Yeah sure. I mean, yes of course sir," Yuan corrected himself as the older man gestured for the Avatar to follow him into the next room. He looked back to see Kunchen and Nerrivik retaking their seats, giving him a nervous look. He gritted his teeth for them and gave a terrified shrug in response.

As him and Goro entered the room the two guards pulled the doors closed behind them, before standing at attention. The room was smaller than Yuan expected, with a surprisingly cozy feel to it. The walls were lined with bookshelves and paintings of well dressed men and women. At the head of the room, in front of several large windows just barely cracked to let in the breeze, stood President Goro's desk. The man sat behind it in a large, cushy chair before motioning for Yuan towards a simpler chair in front of the desk.

As the Avatar sat down, Goro placed his elbows on the desk and brought his knuckles in front of his mouth. "So, Yuan I believe your name was, this has been a rather unexpected day for me, as I'm sure it's been for you. Now this is an awkward topic to bring up, so I believe it's best to just dive right into it. One of my Justice Department aids recognized your face from a wanted poster we put out." Yuan's eyes bulged and all of his muscles instantly tensed as the President continued, " We were doubtful until she managed to dig up the poster to confirm, but it appears that she was correct. It appears that there are some pretty serious charges attached to you."

"Wait," Yuan began to defend himself, "I know how bad this looks, but the poster doesn't say anything about what actually happened! There was a lot of confusion and a lot of fighting and they were about to…"

"Settle down," Goro interrupted with a friendly smile and quick hand wave. "I contacted Field Commander Ryu for more information. He was the one that originally filed the charges. Now, he has been a trusted Field Commander for The United Republic for several years, but after hearing his report, I believe he was being a little overzealous."

"Wait, you do?" an absolutely bewildered Yuan asked.

The President's smile grew slightly bigger at this, "Oh absolutely. You've more than proven your character with your actions today, and I see no reason not to give you a full pardon."

"Seriously? Well that's actually great, I can't thank you enough," Yuan began to thank him before his mind drifted back to shadow of a man that was once Phen. "What about everyone else that was charged. Two of the other people involved were in the same situation as me. Will you be able to give them a pardon as well?"

Goro's lips pursed as his brow furrowed, "Hmmmm…. I didn't ask about them specifically. I'll have to contact Ryu again and get more information. Until then we have other things to discuss. Now what brought you to Republic City? Somehow I feel like it might not have been your first choice."

"Surprisingly no," Yuan said with a nervous laugh. "I've been trying to find a White Lotus Temple, and this was the last place I looked."

Goro winced a little, "Oof, that must have been a rough one to hear. They disbanded years ago. Air Temple Island's been abandoned for over a decade."

Yuan's jaw clenched a little at this. " _It's not abandoned and you know it_ ," he thought to himself. Even as he thought it, however, doubts began to sink in. Goro's demeanor was nothing but polite and friendly. And the man seemed completely unassuming. Was he really the monster Sang had described? And if it wasn't him then who was pulling the strings?

"Yeah, it was pretty disappointing," Yuan replied, realizing he hadn't responded. "Good thing I was in the city though, right?"

Goro chuckled at this. "Really lucky for me at the very least. You did more then just save mine and Vice President Huifeng's lives, however. You managed to defeat one of the most wanted men in the world, and help us put him behind bars. Quite a way to introduce yourself to the populace."

"Oh man, that's right," Yuan blurted out, suddenly realizing that he had pretty much outed himself to the entire world. "How exactly are things in Republic City? I mean Avatar-wise."

"I understand your fears. Avatar Korra was a controversial figure around the world, and The Church's knee-jerk reaction to her and Ms. Sato didn't help matters. But despite resistance elsewhere, her life time of service has made her an enduringly popular figure in The United Republic. I can assure you, that you'll be met with nothing but open arms in Republic City," Goro explained, putting on his most affable face by the end.

Yuan let out a relieved breath. "That's actually a pretty big relief. People in the Earth States don't exactly have the most favorable opinions of the Avatar."

"This is actually one of the reasons I brought you in," Goro started, leaning forward slightly. "You're a completely new figure in the public's eye, a very important one at that. I believe it's best that we properly introduce you to everyone, to let them know that they can trust their new Avatar."

"Introduce me?" Yuan asked suspiciously. "What do you have in mind?"

"A small press conference. We already have all the reporters outside, so this is the perfect opportunity to put your face out there. Really show the people who you are and that you're here to help," Goro continued, still very upbeat about the idea.

"Well, I mean, that sounds like a good idea, but I don't know if I'm really the public speaking type," Yuan replied nervously.

Goro waved the concerns away with a quick gesture. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Listen I'll level with you here, Yuan. Everyone in The United Republic just learned that there's a new Avatar. Imagine you're one of them, freaked out, scared, unsure about who this new person is or how they'll end up affecting your life. It's your duty as the Avatar to put their fears to rest, and assure everyone that you're here to help."

" _Well I have always wondered what my Avatar duties were,_ " Yuan thought to himself. "Ok, I'll do it. Just don't expect too much, I've never really dealt with crowds before."

"I'm sure you'll do great. Here I'll show you to the steps, we've already got a microphone set up," Goro spoke, as he rose from his desk and walked towards a door in the back of his office.

"Wait what?" Yuan asked, rising to follow the President. "You mean like right now? I have no idea what to say!"

"Just speak truthfully and from your heart and I'm sure you'll be fine," Goro reassured, neither looking back or breaking stride.

Yuan gulped a little, but decided to remain silent while he and the guards followed the President through a maze of hallways. " _Ok, well I wasn't quite expecting this. It'll be alright, if Goro wanted to do anything he'd have already had me locked up or killed. I just need to seem friendly for a few minutes and I'm sure I'll be able to leave. Where's Sang anyways, I really need to check on her? I'm sure if I ask they'll..._ "

His thoughts were cut off as the group emerged from their foyer they were walking through and onto the massive front steps in front of the Presidential Palace. Before them stood a group of what Yuan guessed to be at least 300 reporters and news crews and probably thousands of citizens. Camera's began to flash in a barrage of blinding light, causing Yuan to reel a little and blink rapidly. Goro gave him a quick pat on the back, both to give confidence and to push the Avatar towards the microphone in front of them.

As Yuan stepped forward he scanned the crowd several times. " _Wow that is a lot of people,_ " he thought to himself. " _Well I guess here goes nothing._ "

"Hello everyone, my name is Yuan and I'm your new Avatar," he said as he leaned into the mic. An awkward moment of silence passed before he decided to add, "Ummmm… I will now be taking questions."

Everyone's hands immediately sprang up as all the reporters began asking their questions over each other. Unsure how these things were supposed to go, Yuan randomly pointed towards one person hoping they would speak up over everyone else. The gamble paid off as the woman he pointed to stood up and began to speak, "Avatar Yuan, where exactly are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from a small village called Urumqi. It's in the the southeast Earth States," Yuan answered, happy to have gotten an easy question.

"Ok, then would that make you a fan of the Tu Zin Tigermonkeys?" she continued.

" _Oh wait, that's right the Republic City Classic is starting soon!_ " thought Yuan. He'd been a Pro-bending fanatic ever since he was a kid, always making sure to listen to matches on the radio and see highlights in the newspaper. Him, Teng, and Phen had even started making plans to throw a listening party for the tournament in The Sleeping Badgermole. This all seemed like ages ago to Yuan, as he continued to stare awkwardly over the crowd before realizing he'd been asked a question. "Oh wait, what? I mean, yeah of course I love the the Tigermonkeys. How'd they do at the qualifiers? I haven't gotten the chance to check on them in a few weeks."

"They got a lower seed, but they qualified," the reporter answered.

"Well is Nanook still injured?"

"Yes, it's looking like he'll be out for the entire tournament."

"Of course," Yuan replied in a sarcastic tone. "How'd the Badgerfrogs do?"

"Top seed."

"Oh yeah, they're definitely going all the way then," Yuan continued. "Oh uh... next question, I guess. Yeah you there"

This time it was a younger man, not much older than Yuan, who stood up in the back row. "Hello Mr. Avatar, I'm with the United Republic Gossiper and our question is, what do you think will win best mover at this years Varrick Mover Awards?"

"Ummm… I haven't really seen any new movers recently. Any other questions?" Yuan replied tentatively. " _I thought they were going to be asking me stuff about being the Avatar,_ " he thought to himself silently, as he tried his best to field questions ranging from celebrity gossip to the conditions of Republic City's roads.

The interview continued for about a half an hour before Goro stepped up to the microphone and told the disappointed crowd that that was all for today. He gestured for Yuan to follow as he walked back into the Palace and took a path down several small corridors. Eventually they arrived in what Yuan guessed was a well concealed alley where Kunchen, Nerrivik, and a cab were waiting.

"I hope we didn't keep the two of you waiting too long," Goro said apologetically as he opened the back door of the cab and ushered the three into the back.

"Oh no sir, we were perfectly fine. Thank you so much for making these living arrangements for us, it's greatly appreciated," spoke Kunchen in a grating sycophantic voice.

Yuan would have rolled his eyes along with Nerrivik if he wasn't curious about what they were talking about. "Living arrangements?"

"Oh yes," Goro spoke with a little pride in his voice. "While we were cleaning you up I also arranged a suite for you and your associates to stay during your time here in Republic City. It's a cozy little place we typically reserve for diplomats and foreign dignitaries. We felt that the Avatar more than deserved the honor of staying there for as long as he needs. We've already had your luggage moved from Varrick Estates, so moving in should be a breeze."

"Oh um, thank you very much President Goro. That's more than generous," Yuan said, still in disbelief over how genuinely nice Goro was.

"The least we could do. I'll send one of my aides by the house in the morning, we still have much to discuss. Until then, goodnight Avatar Yuan," Goro gave one last small smile before turning back to the door.

"Goodnight to you too President Goro," Yuan returned as the cab began to drive away. He turned towards his two friends and made a quick shaking motion with his head, putting off any conversation until they were truly alone. The sun descended quickly over the city, the skyscrapers casting huge shadows over the streets as they drove through the downtown area. Just as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, all of the streets lit up with lights and spirits. Yuan gazed absently out the window for almost the entire trip, only occasionally looking across to his companions.

Eventually the cab came to a stop outside of a pointed metal fence. The three got out of the car and all sized up their new living arrangements. The house was bigger than any Yuan had ever stayed in with a yard that just seemed extravagant with it's two trees and flower patches. Kunchen unlocked the front gate and all three passed through the yard and garden out front, entering through the front door. The first floor was an open plan with kitchen, dining room, living room, and foyer all merging into one large room. To the left was a set of stairs that lead to the second floor, which overlooked the first behind a railing. In the middle of the first floor was all of their belongings, stacked neatly into piles. After a quick decision, all three agreed to unpack into their rooms and prepare a dinner before sitting down to talk. They each got their own room, much to their relief, and were soon downstairs cooking from their fully stocked kitchen. Yuan, who hadn't actually eaten all day, made ample use of the food, downing plate after plate of food to the growing admiration of Kunchen and Nerrivik.

As he began to slow down, Nerrivik decided this was the most opportune time to speak up. "Ok, I'm sick of waiting. Yuan, we really need to know why you ran." Her voice was serious, but rose slightly when she mentioned him leaving. The hurt was plain, and enough to make Yuan feel all sorts of terrible.

"I didn't run, I really want to make that clear," he said in a voice that hinted there was something to come. "That was like the only thing I didn't do. It's a really long story."

Kunchen folded his arms at this, his posture reflecting his indignant mood. "We've got nothing but time now."

" _Sigh_... Alright," Yuan said finally. He proceeded into a grand retelling of all he'd been through in the past several days, from the Scorpion, to Phen, to Sang, to Korra, and finally to Goro. His friends shot him various looks of bewilderment, disbelief, frustration, and sympathy through his epic tale. When it came to an end the three sat in silence briefly until Kunchen spoke up.

"Wow… I mean, that was really something. I don't even know where to begin with that," the airbender said as he stared at his hands on the table.

"So Goro pardoned you, but he doesn't know about you and the Scorpion?" Nerrivik asked.

"Nope. I don't think the Scorpion will speak up either. As much as he probably hates me now, he hates the United Republic even more," Yuan said. He had worried about his former partner speaking out during torture or interrogation, but had figured his pride would be too big for something like that.

"So then, what now?" Nerrivik continued to ask. "It looks like they want to make you a public figure now. Are they going to train you? Do they want you to do anything political? What about Phen?"

Yuan heaved a huge sigh at this, "I honestly don't know. I figured Goro will probably tell me more about what he has planned tomorrow and I'll just go from there."

"Well while we're waiting for that, what about Korra?," Kunchen interjected. "This is like your biggest breakthrough with being the Avatar. Did she talk about anything other than metalbending and poison? Like how to talk to her, how you should be training yourself, anything?"

Yuan raised his hands in an empty shrug, "Nothing. I didn't even realize it was her until after the connection was broken."

"Hmmmm… I know Korra broke connection with all the previous Avatars, so my grandpa never had stories about her talking to them. Tell you what, I can probably go to the library tomorrow and try to look up some information for you," Kunchen suggested helpfully.

"That might work," Yuan said with a little hope in his voice.

"Awesome. Before we do that, I'm gonna need you to go into greater detail about your dreams and what happened with Korra. Any little bit might help when I'm looking," Kunchen's voice was getting giddy at the thought of research.

"Well if you to are just going to talk Avatar powers, I'm going to bed," Nerrivik said letting out a large yawn. Truth be told all three were tired at this point, and it was only hitting them now that they had sat down.

"That's fine, goodnight Nerrivik," Yuan responded.

"Goodnight you guys. And Yuan, I'm glad you're back," she said with one last smile. Yuan returned it before she turned around to walk up the stairs. She slowly sauntered up the steps, her leisurely pace reflecting just how tired she was. Her short braid swung to and fro with each step, occasionally bouncing off of her back. Her hips bounced with each step in an almost rhythmic…

"Yuan? Yuan? Yuan, is something up?" Kunchen asked, waving to get his friends attention.

"Huh, oh what?" the Avatar's head snapped back up and focused back on the airbender. "Wait what were we just talking about?"

Kunchen quickly looked back to make sure Nerrivik was completely up the stairs before looking back with an amused look on his face. "Were you just staring at Nerrivik?"

"What? No!" Yuan defended himself immediately, but it made little difference. Kunchen was already trying to stifle laughter, pounding the table slightly.

"Holy crap, you were actually staring at her as she walked up the stairs. Come on, Yuan, I mean seriously."

"Hey I wasn't staring I was just…" Yuan trailed off, unable to form an excuse.

"You were staring, it's ok to admit. Wait, do you two have thing going on?" Kunchen's face swung from hysterics to curiosity in a blink.

"No!"

"Ok, ok, ok calm down. It's nothing to be too ashamed of. I mean it's a little embarrassing to get caught like that but…"

Yuan cut him off, "Look can we just focus, please."

Kunchen paused for a moment before responding, "Ok, you'd think you'd never had a crush before. I mean, you have haven't you?"

"There weren't really any girls around my age in Urumqi so…." Yuan trailed off.

"Oh wow, sorry to hear that. Well if it's any consolation I wasn't always…"

"I don't care. Are we gonna talk Avatar business or what?" Yuan cut him off once again.

"Ok, fine. When did all the dreams start happening?" Kunchen managed to change moods instantly.

"I think the first night we were in the city, when we were all meditating," Yuan said, having reached the conclusion himself earlier that day.

"Alright that makes sense," Kunchen cupped his chin and stared down as he continued. "Meditating probably brought you closer to Raava and Avatar Korra's spirit. They must be trying to reach out to you."

"Wait what's Raava?" Yuan asked, puzzled.

"Oh wow I haven't told you about that one? Well Raava is the spirit of light, that connects all the Avatar's. She inhabits your bodies and moves on to the next Avatar each time one of you guys die. She's what gives you the ability to bend all the elements. There's also a spirit of darkness called Vaatu, but my grandpa said Korra defeated him when they were teenagers," Kunchen quickly rattled off all the facts he could think about.

Yuan nodded along as this was all explained. "So Raava is the spirit that bonds all Avatar's together? Ok then I just need to reach out to her and I should be able to reconnect with Korra."

Kunchen gave a small shrug. "I guess. I really only have the descriptive stuff, not the mechanics of how it works."

A yawn escaped from Yuan's throat before any words could come out, "I think I'll try in the morning, it's been a long enough day as is."

"Yeah good idea. Goodnight Yuan, we are glad to have you back."

"Goodnight to you too Kunchen. It's good to be back."

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Yuan pulled back from the crowd, and slipped into a side hallway. He slowly worked his way back until he stumbled upon the kitchen. The staff working inside didn't even look up to acknowledge him, being too engrossed in their own work to care about anything else. Yuan was silently grateful for this as he scanned the walls. After a moment he found what he was looking for. On the left wall, below some cupboards was a phone that the Avatar picked up and punched a number into. He was connected to an operator who quickly transferred his call to the diplomatic house he was currently living in.

"Hello?" Nerrivik's voice answered after a few rings.

"Hey Nerrivik, it's me," Yuan began.

"Yuan? Where are you? You just left this morning!" Nerrivik quickly launched into list of questions, as she was wont to do more and more recently.

"I'm back at The Presidential Palace. It's been a pretty weird day for me. After that old guy picked me up, he drove me all through town. I met some mover stars and had my picture taken with them. Then we went to the park where I had my picture taken with a bunch of kids who'd been picking up trash for the past week. Then I had lunch with Goro at this really nice restaurant and had some more pictures taken…" Yuan explained every detail of his day so far.

"I think I get the picture," Nerrivik interrupted, chuckling at her own pun.

"Well anyways I'm at this party thing right now, where I'm meeting even more famous people," Yuan quickly summarized. "I just wanted to call and let you know I'd be out late. How's Kunchen doing? Tell him I'm sorry for not getting to do our meditation thing this morning."

"Oh he's fine," the waterbender reassured. "He went straight to the library after you left and came back with like 50 books about the Avatar. He says that - Yes I'm telling him right now. No I'm the one using the phone right now you can wait your turn - Sorry about that, anyways he hasn't found anything quite yet, but he's got a few books about Korra's life that you might want to check out."

"Sounds awesome. What did Kunchen want to say?" Yuan asked, laughing a little.

"Just what I said. He went back to go pout into his books though. We might go to bed before you're back, but we'll leave a light on for you."

"Thanks, I'll see you guys later," Yuan said. He hung up after Nerrivik said her goodbyes, and quickly slipped his way back into the party. It was a small function, only around 40 or so people in total. Goro had explained that it was mostly politicians, with a few business people and academics to round things out. The only two people that Yuan could recognize were Goro and Sang, so it made little difference to him either way.

As if on cue, the President broke away from the crowd and walked his way over to Yuan. "Ah good to see you Avatar Yuan. I hope this all hasn't been too overwhelming to you, but you've done a lot to reassure the public in the past two days."

"Oh it's no problem," Yuan replied with a small chuckle. "The food alone has been worth it."

The president laughed a little at this. "I'm glad you like it, I think I actually spend more on my cooking staff then my security detail."

"Well I don't want to cast any stones, but after the past few days…"

The two shared another laugh at this. "Don't worry it's already being addressed. Anyways one thing I didn't get to mention over lunch was that I have a box seat at the Pro-Bending Arena. I would love if you could join me during the upcoming tournament."

Yuan's eyes lit up at this. "I would be honored! I've always wanted to see an actual match in person! My friends would be-" he stopped himself halfway through the thought. His mind suddenly slipped back to Phen wasting away in his cell. "Say did you make any progress on my friends that were imprisoned."

"Now that you mention it, yes actually. One of the men accused, Teng, is currently staying with Commander Ryu, serving as a liason of sorts and advising on local matters," Goro quickly rattled off the information.

"What about my other friend, Phen?" Yuan asked a little nervously.

The President bit his lip a little at this, "We were told about him, but we haven't been able to find his arrest papers as of yet. We're still looking into it though, and you will be the first person to know if we find anything."

"Thank you for your reassurances," Yuan gave a small bow to the President before the two went their separate ways. The Avatar walked through the crowd a bit more grabbing at various appetizers and drinks being served from trays. Eventually he stumbled upon Sang, whom was hanging back in a corner of the room.

"Hey there Sang, how's it going, I haven't seen you since… well…" Yuan began to greet her.

"Vice President Huifeng, Yuan. I'm still a public official, despite how President Goro might treat me," her reply was cold and snide.

"Oh sorry," the smile immediately fled Yuan's face. "Still how are you, it looks like the Scorpion didn't do anything too drastic to you?"

Huifeng's expression softened slightly at the concern, "I'm fine. My wrists are still a little sore, but that's about it. How are you? That was quite a beating you took."

"Yeah it was pretty rough. President Goro had some medics take care of me though, so I got patched up really good," Yuan's grin faded and his tone became more serious to match Sang's.

"That's good to hear. And I see he's placed you on quite the publicity tour so far."

"Yeah it's been something. He's been really accommodating so far. I can see why he's so popular," Yuan scanned the room and spotted the President talking to some other guests.

"He can really appear that way can't he," Sang's words snapped the Avatar's head back. "You can't let him trick you like this. You're just as much a pawn to him as anyone else."

"I'm not sure about that. He's been more than kind to me. He even granted me a pardon. I honestly don't think he knows about Air Temple Island," Yuan's strained his voice to remain neutral, but a hint of defensiveness crept in.

VP Huifeng snorted slightly at this, "You think Goro's the oblivious one? Look at yourself Yuan, what has he been having you do for the past two days?"

"Well I had that press conference, I met a bunch of local celebrities, he even invited me to the Republic City Invitational in a few…"

"Exactly," Sang interrupted him. "He's been shifting you around and having you smile and wave to the public. Tell me, what did you talk about at the press conference? And what kinds of celebrities did you meet?"

"Well we talked about Pro-Bending, movers, and other stuff like that. The people I met today were mostly mover stars, but I think one of them was a singer," he scratched his head trying to think of everything.

"So not a word about the Earth States, Terrorism, any politics in general?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Well...no," Yuan admitted, slowly realizing how menial everything he'd been doing so far had been.

"He's using you, Yuan. The public doesn't see you as someone that can talk about complex foreign policy, they see you as the affable young hero that saved the President and loves Pro-Bending. He's completely neutralized any opinions you might have, and all the while has been raking in the public's good will. It even looks like he's made an ally out of you," Sang carefully explained what was happening, as if she were talking to a 5 year old.

Yuan stood silently lost in thought for a moment. " _Why would he do this though? All I've done is save him and Sang so far, why doesn't he think I can be trusted? Wait he saw my record before he even met with me, meaning…_ "

"He doesn't want the Avatar, who he knows disagrees with him, speaking out against what's happening in the Earth States," he concluded aloud.

"Bingo," Sang congratulated him. "He looked up all the information he could on you, and decided he didn't want to deal with another political enemy. Judging from the Pro-Bending invite, he may have even been trying to make an ally out of you."

"So what now? Phen's still locked up. Do I go to the press or something?" Yuan desperately began asking questions.

"No!" she answered forcefully. "That's the last thing we need. People have been called nutjobs for even suggesting the idea of secret prisons. No one's going to take the opinion of a 16 year old kid that hangs out with mover stars all day seriously, even if you are the Avatar. What we need to do now is formulate an attack plan and leverage your position as best we can. Sometime soon you need to schedule a meeting with the Quorom. We can talk there and put together a course of action."

"And until then?" Yuan continued expectantly.

"Just play along with Goro. Don't do anything drastic, we can all act when we're ready." she answered, giving him a quick pat on the shoulder before moving back into the crowd. Yuan turned and stared into the crowd looking for Goro. Eventually he saw him talking and laughing along with some other party guests over drinks. He still had his trademark smile, but slightly more sinister than it seemed a moment ago.

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"We've got no other option."

"You've got one other option which is not to do it. This also so happens to be the right choice."

Ryu sighed and leaned back in his chair. They'd been having this conversation for the past several hours and had made no progress. Teng and himself had been sitting alone in his tent going over a course of action. One of the United Republic's scout teams had been ambushed by Rising Earth militants, and suffered major casualties. From reports it was clear that the militants had fled to a nearby village to lie low. United Republic Forces quickly moved into the area, and were currently waiting for orders. Ryu's initial instinct was for a full sweep of the village to quickly clear out the insurgents, but Teng resisted.

"I kept you out of jail to be an adviser, not a tactician. I understand your concern, but I can't risk these people escaping. There's no telling what damage they could do," Ryu said. He had felt confident in his choice to keep Teng around as a local adviser and up until now it had been paying off. The man wasn't a radical, despite who he associated with, and had actually helped guide The Peacekeepers through several difficult situations. It kept Teng out of prison and helped both United Republic Forces and earth citizens alike, making it a winning situation all around. Until tonight, however.

"There's not even a guarantee that it will work. If the civilians are already shielding them, then they'll probably find a way to hide them from your sweep. We all know how cornering them turns out," Ryu shot a quick look across the table, but Teng continued unperturbed. "All this act will do is foster ill will towards your forces and make new Rising Earth recruits. It's a breach of trust to everyone in the village."

"They're already harboring a pack of murderers, I think there's little trust to be lost," Ryu pointed out.

"Then there's no reason to exacerbate the situation. You go through with this and all you're going to get is bloodshed and mistrust sewn through the area," Teng's voice kept its' dignity, but dipped into a more desperate tone.

Ryu chewed on all the information for a little bit before speaking, "Ok, how about a compromise. We don't go through with the sweep, but we do establish a perimeter around the village and offer a hefty reward for anyone willing to turn them over. The village is poor, right? We just have to make them a deal they can't pass up."

Teng scratched his chin and mulled over the plan. "This could work. So long as nobody's privacy is invaded we should be able to retain good relations in the area."

This time Ryu sighed with relief. "Excellent. This does increase the chances that they escape, however, and if they do it's all on you Teng. Until then you're dismissed."

Teng quickly bowed and made his way out of the tent. Ryu radioed his orders to his field officers before taking a seat back at the table. Kicking his feet up, he became lost in thought. Doubts about the plan swirled in his head, with each possible scenario playing out in excruciating detail. All these thoughts eventually lead back to one central question however. How dangerous were the insurgents, after they so easily decimated his scout team?

Coming Soon: Chapter 12 - City Daze


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